Bath squeaked out a victory against a very good Harlequins side and thus winning four of their first five matches of the season. Things are really looking up for the team in their title hopes as their grit and determination helped defeat Harlequins. They now will have to take on a very good Sale Sharks side who is tied for fifth on points in the league table. They are coming off a very tough loss to Northampton, but now they have a chance to turn things around. Both sides will have to test their depth in this match after some of their players being selected to the England national team for the Autumn Nations Series, so it will be interesting who is the deeper squad.
Key Players For Sale
Luke Cowan-Dickie-Hooker
Tommy Taylor-Hooker
Bevan Rodd-Prop
Nick Schonert-Prop
Jonny Hill-Lock
Josh Beaumont-Back Row
Ben Curry-Back Row
Tom Curry-Back Row
Dan du Preez-Back Row
Jean-Luc du Preez-Back Row
Gus Warr-Scrumhalf
Raffi Quirke-Scrumhalf
George Ford-Flyhalf
Robert du Preez-Flyhalf
Sam Bedlow-Center
Waisea Nayacalevu-Center
Tom O'Flaherty-Wing
Arron Reed-Wing
Tom Roebuck-Wing
Will Addison-Fullback
Luke James-Fullback
Disrupt Robert du Preez
Robert du Preez isn't quite George Ford, but Sale relies on the player in the 10 jersey so much that it drives their attack. Bath will have to be incredibly physical on du Preez because if he gets going, it will be tough to stop the other players featured in the attack such as Arron Reed, Will Addison, Joe Carpenter, Luke James, and Sam Bedlow. Sale has a very good attack, but if their central focus can't get anything going then there isn't much they can do.
The Depth Will Be Tested
No Ben Spencer, Ollie Lawrence, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, and Sam Underhill. That is tough to lose all those players to their international sides. So now some youngsters will need to step it up in this match. Louie Hennessey, Guy Pepper, Billy Sela, Ethan Staddon, and Tom Carr-Smith will have to be those guys when Johann van Graan calls upon. It will come down to who has the better talent since Sale is facing the same problem.
Dominate The Scrum
On paper, Bath clearly has the strongest scrum. That being said, if they dominate it, then it would exhaust Sale as much as possible. Sure, their back row is very good, but the rest of the scrum doesn't compare to Bath's. Matches are usually decided by forward packs and Bath's should have to be at their best if they want to win this one and get a better position in the table.
Get Defensively Set
With the type of attack Sale has, Bath has to be set on defense which is probably why Will Butt is starting at the inside center spot this week. If du Preez is able to do his thing, then trying to stop players like Reed, Addison, and James becomes much more difficult. So getting set if that occurs should limit the damage and that could be huge, but if Bath dominates the scrum then this might be all moot.
Starting XV
1 Beno Obano
2 Tom Dunn
3 Thomas du Toit
4 Quinn Roux
5 Ross Molony
6 Ted Hill
7 Guy Pepper
8 Miles Reid
9 Louis Schreuder
10 Finn Russell
11 Will Muir
12 Will Butt
13 Louie Hennessey
14 Joe Cokanasiga
15 Tom de Glanville
Replacements
16 Niall Annett
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Billy Sela
19 Josh Bayliss
20 Ethan Staddon
21 Tom Carr-Smith
22 Orlando Bailey
23 Jaco Coetzee
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