Scottish duo return for Sale

Published: Friday, 7. October, 2011 in category Northern Hemishere
Trinder: Hunting for tries against Sale

The Scotland internationals, back from the World Cup, start from the bench alongside fit-again hooker Joe Ward.

The starting XV is unchanged from the team which started at Harlequins last Saturday.

Sharks' head coach Tony Hanks said: "We're delighted to welcome Alasdair and Richie back from the World Cup.

"It's a reflection of the good things happening here at our club that they're so keen to return to the fold. We're looking forward to seeing them playing in a Sharks' shirt.

"We're playing a team which was in last season's Top Four. Gloucester have good recent form. This week, we've concentrated on the challenge ahead, and what we want to do. There were a couple of focus areas rising from the Quins game, including our first half defence."

Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath has also named an unchanged starting line-up following two recent home victories over Bath and London Irish.

The only change to the matchday squad sees back row forward Matt Cox named amongst the replacements having missed out against the Exiles last weekend.

Alex Brown is still sidelined with a shoulder injury and, although Lesley Vainikolo has trained this week, he's been given a further week to regain peak fitness.

Sale have enjoyed a good start to the season and currently lie in fourth place in the table, just one place above Gloucester.

It's also a fixture that very much favours the home side - the last 17 encounters between the two clubs in all competitions have all been won by the team with home field advantage.

The last time that either club triumphed on the other's home turf was when Gloucester won 44-21 at Heywood Road on 22 September 2001.

As a former Sale scrum-half, Redpath knows all too well what makes the Sharks tick and is expecting a tough game.

He said: "A lot of credit must go to Sale. Steve (Diamond) coached me as a player and I know how passionate he is about the club. He's brought in a lot of new players and had to mould them into a team and he's certainly done that.

"I've got a lot of time for him because his core values are old fashioned and he believes so strongly in what Sale are all about. We must respect that. If anyone ignores that, they're in for a shock on Saturday."