Northampton v Sale: Teams
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder says that there will not be any easing off during Saturday's clash with Sale.
Last Updated: 23/10/09 12:39pm
Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder says that there will not be any easing off when his side return to Guinness Premiership duty aginst Sale on Saturday.
The Saints face Sale on the back of two Heineken Cup matches against Munster and Perpignan. But Mallinder says that his team will be punished if they think that a return to domestic competition will be easy.
"The Guinness Premiership is an intense competition and we cannot view it as a step down from Europe," he said.
"If we do that we will be punished by a Sale team that has played well in the last couple of weeks. They beat Cardiff Blues last weekend and scored some good tries against Toulouse the week before that.
"Charlie Hodgson is one of the best playmakers in the league and he has plenty of strike runners outside him to use. Up front Sale have some powerful and experienced forwards, as well as youngsters like James Gaskell, who was man of the match last weekend.
Tough game
"However we have plenty of positives from our recent performances to take into Saturday's game and the players' attitude in training this week has been very good."
In addition to the suspended Juandre Kruger and Brian Mujati, Saints are without Santiago Bonorino, who picked up a knock in Perpignan last weekend.
Meanwhile, Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones was impressed with Northampton's win over Munster a fortnight ago.
"They were excellent in everything they did that day," said Jones.
"They have a fantastic venue and the crowd really get behind them. They are well coached by Jim Mallinder and Dorian West and we are expecting a tough game. On saying that we have had a good week preparing for the challenge and are looking forward to the game."
Northampton15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Chris Mayor, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 3 Soane Tonga'uiha, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Regardt Dreyer.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Jon Vickers, 19 Christian Day, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Alan Dickens, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Joe Ansbro.
Sale Sharks: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Sisa Koyamaibole, 7 David Seymour, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Eifion Roberts, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Mahonri Schwalger, 17 Rob O'Donnell, 18 Jack Forster, 19 Brent Cockbain, 20 David Tait, 21 Dwayne Peel, 22 Chris Bell, 23 Oriol Ripol.