Sale v Cardiff: Teams
Nick MacLeod will make his Sale Sharks debut against his former club Cardiff Blues, in Saturday's EDF Energy Cup game at Edgeley Park.
Last Updated: 03/10/08 12:31pm
Nick MacLeod will make his Sale Sharks debut against his former club Cardiff Blues, in Saturday's EDF Energy Cup game at Edgeley Park.
Having signed for Sale in the off-season MacLeod will now make his first appearance for his new club, and will be looking to plot the downfall of his former side.
He will start at full-back in a side that shows several changes from their mid-week outing.
England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth will play out of position at fly-half as Sale look to rest as many players before the start of the Heineken Cup next week.
There is also a debut for Andy Tuilagi at inside centre, whilst Nick Royle becomes the first ever player from Division One to be loaned to a Premiership side, as he takes his place on the bench.
Rested
"We have rested several players this week but we still have seven full internationals in the starting fifteen," head coach Kingsley Jones said.
"Cardiff have named a full strength team for the game and it will give all the players we have selected an opportunity to impress and push for a first team place."
Cardiff Blues boss David Young has made six changes, and two positional changes, for the match.
Ben Blair comes in at full-back, having been rested last weekend, with Leigh Halfpenny moving to the wing, after his man of the match appearance against Connacht.
The midfield stays the same with Jamie Robinson, Jamie Roberts and Ceri Sweeney all forming an impressive partnership.
Richie Rees makes his first start of the season at scrum-half having recovered from a back injury, and Martyn Williams returns to the openside having recovered from ankle ligament injury.
Sale Sharks: 15 Nick MacLeod, 14 Selorm Kuadey, 13 Rudi Keil, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Oriol Ripol, 10 Richard Wigglesworth, 9 Chris Leck, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 David Tait, 6 Jason White (c), 5 Brent Cockbain, 4 Chris Jones, 3 Martin Halsall, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements: 16 Rob O'Donnell, 17 Ross Davies, 18 James Gaskell, 19 Alex Shaw, 20 Johnny Kennedy, 21 Nick Royle, 22 Will Cliff.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Jamie Robinson, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Gareth Thomas, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Mark Lewis, 7 Martyn Williams, 6 Andy Powell, 5 Paul Tito (c), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 T. Rhys Thomas, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Gary Powell, 17 Gareth Williams, 18 Deiniol Jones, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Darren Allinson, 21 Nick Robinson, 22 Tom Shanklin.