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Here are today’s match officials:
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Referee: Matthew Carley
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Assistant referees: Adam Leal and Craig Maxwell-Keys
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TMO: Stuart Teerheege
As with a few of Leicester’s big-name players, this is the last time Welford Road will see Michael Cheika in the stands as Leicester head coach. Ahead of kick-off he said the best way to sign off would be to extend his tenure with a trip to the Premiership final.
He told TNT pre-match: “For me to re-pay the fans for the classy way they’ve treated me with a final in London is really all that been on my mind.
“The fundamentals of the game are so important. These teams have played 25 times together by this stage of the season so the patterns are set, we’re pretty level in terms of the table.
“Executing the fundaments are going to the key to winning this game.
“The best thing we can do for a fan or player who is leaving, whether or not they are legends, is get the job done.”
Looking for some pre-match reading? Check out Robert Kitson’s interview with Sale and England fly-half George Ford
Teams
Leicester XV: Steward, Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins, Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Hayes, Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.
Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Volavola, Perese.
Sale XV: Carpenter, Roebuck, Robert du Preez, Ma’asi-White, Reed, Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, Hill, Tom Curry, Ben Curry, Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements: McElroy, McIntyre, John, Bamber, Dan du Preez, Warr, James, O’Flaherty.
How do you see this one unfolding then readers? Drop me an email via the link at the top of the page.
Preamble
We’ve seen this episode before. Back in 2023 Goerge Ford was described by Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson as “a pocket of calm amid the chaos”, as the fly-haf guided Sale Sharks past Leicester in the Premiership semi-final. A repeat today would be another feather in the cap of a fine year for Ford, who was named in Premiership team of the season earlier this week and probably should have been in the Lions squad heading for Australia.
The clash with Leicester, who feature the league’s second-highest points scorer in Handré Pollard, should produce tries. Across two league games already this season 142 points were shared, with one win apiece. The most recent of those was won last month by Leicester at Welford Road, where today’s game is taking place, a factor that perhaps tips the scales in the Tigers’ favour.
Should they lose, this will be Ben Youngs and Dan Cole’s final matches for Leicester. The retiring pair start on the bench as Jack van Poortvliet and Joe Heyes come in, while Adam Radwan will play on the wing in place of Josh Bassett. Former England international Mike Brown has not been named in Leicester’s matchday squad and should his team lose his last minutes as a Tiger will have been against Newcastle Falcons in the last game of the regular season. For Sale it is positive news as they have Tom Roebuck and Tom Curry both available again. The England duo missed the final game of the regular season as the Sharks beat Exeter.
Bath, another of Ford’s former clubs, await the winners of this tie in the final at Twickenham after the regular season table-toppers held their nerve against Bristol on Friday night. Ford has tasted defeat in a Premiership final for all three of the teams left with a possibility of winning this season’s showpiece fixture and would relish the chance to run the table against two of his former employers to ensure that this time he is not the one left standing when the music stops.
