[DavenportSharky]

Sale Sharks v Harlequins
Referee: Ian Tempest
ARs: Christophe Ridley & Jamie Leahy
TMO: Hamish Smales

[DavenportSharky]

Odds to win

Sale Sharks 2/7
Quins 16/5
Draw 33/1

We are 6/1 for Top4 finish ( Bath 1/200, Red Bulls 100/1). We are the most popular top 4 finish bet.

[SSR]

We are the most popular top 4 finish bet.

Why did "a fool and his money are soon parted" spring immediately to mind ?

[dinogyro]

From (my admittedly poor) memory, we have a good home record against Quins, don't we?

[SSR]

I guess it will depend on who gets the biggest reaction to last weeks humbling ?

[AntSale]

I guess it will depend on who gets the biggest reaction to last weeks humbling ?

probably the two most frustrated fan bases.

Quins are the team I enjoy beating the most (no explanation available), so looking forward to the game ! Would add a nice bit of positivity going into 2026 if we can get a win

[dinogyro]

Looks like Arron won't be our fullback, as he's signing autographs outside.

[Olyy]

That's a surprise, unless he's injured?
Even if I don't want him at 15 I'd want him on the wing or at 23

Carps back? LJ back? Giving Olly Davies a shot?
Or will it be TOF again?

[Olyy]

Rodd, Ford and Carpenter all in the training video posted on social media today - hopefully means all available for this week (the caption mentions returning faces)

Would be a huge boost

[ledzepsfr]

I guess it will depend on who gets the biggest reaction to last weeks humbling ?

probably the two most frustrated fan bases.

Quins are the team I enjoy beating the most (no explanation available), so looking forward to the game ! Would add a nice bit of positivity going into 2026 if we can get a win

For me I enjoyed beating Quins because of Danny Care. Great player, but more irritating than AH

Merry Christmas to all on here

[RinTin]

15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Marius Louw, 11. Alex Wills, 10. George Ford, 9. Raffi Quirke; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. James Harper, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 8. Tom Curry.

Replacements:
16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Tom Burrow, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Gus Warr, 22. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 23. Gurshwin Wehr.

Good to see so many back. Hoping for good bench impact from the likes of Dugdale and RMW.

DDP out again?? Big game for Raffi here.

[Olyy]

Surprising number of returnees

Hopefully shocks some life into the side - feeling marginally better about the game, think Carps and Ford will add a huge amount of stability

[SSR]

Front rows, back rows and back three competitions will be fierce. If both teams turn up,
then will be close I think.

[ejndavid95]

And the oppo.

15. Nick David
14. Rodrigo Isgró
13. Oscar Beard
12. Luke Northmore
11. Cadan Murley
10. Marcus Smith
9. Will Porter
1. Will Hobson
2. Jack Walker
3. Harry Williams
4. Guido Petti Pagadizábal
5. Kieran Treadwell
6. Jack Kenningham
7. Tom Lawday
8. Chandler Cunningham-South

16. Jack Musk
17. Boris Wenger
18. Pedro Delgado
19. Jonny Green
20. Alex Dombrandt
21. Lucas Friday
22. Jarrod Evans
23. Bryn Bradley

Good to see Arsene's son getting a go on the bench.

[Olyy]

Bit of an embarrassing start, kickoff delayed because we left all the pyro on the pitch after the players were out,
Opposition coaches and the refereeing team having to move it

Hopefully the game isn't so amateurish

[Olyy]

Hopefully the game isn't so amateurish

No such luck

[ejndavid95]

Bit of an embarrassing start, kickoff delayed because we left all the pyro on the pitch after the players were out,
Opposition coaches and the refereeing team having to move it

Hopefully the game isn't so amateurish

Waited a whole 3 minutes for it to be even more embarrassing.

[Olyy]

Why did we not have a FB on the bench if we were going to sub Carps so early?

9. Warr, 11. Quirke, 15. TOF is insane, what are we doing?



That said: Carps looked really good, he's looking as important to our play as Ford

[Yareet]

Why did we not have a FB on the bench if we were going to sub Carps so early?

9. Warr, 11. Quirke, 15. TOF is insane, what are we doing?



That said: Carps looked really good, he's looking as important to our play as Ford

Or even just bring the winger off the bench?

[Lord Elpus]

You're supposed to give presents off the field.

Tempo - Specsavers!

[Surbiton_Shark]

In all the recent 'honesty' sessions...which we now just have routinely every season....will we ever ever ever address aimless kicking......Quins aren't having to work hard for their points......I'm sure we've also save sooo many times.....not to concede soft penalties.

The decision to have Carps on for a bit is just classic Sanderson overthinking. I'd imagine Rafi is a tad annoyed about that.

Pitch looks really cut up?

[Olyy]

BOD's explanation of Carps starting for 35 rather than coming on at 65 mins made a lot of sense (you're fully in charge of his minutes, no danger of someone going down injured 5mins in and him having to play 75) but it makes the bench choices crazy

Olly Davies has taken his opportunities with both hands, why not let him have a crack at 15?

[Yareet]

In all the recent 'honesty' sessions...which we now just have routinely every season....will we ever ever ever address aimless kicking......Quins aren't having to work hard for their points......I'm sure we've also save sooo many times.....not to concede soft penalties.

The decision to have Carps on for a bit is just classic Sanderson overthinking. I'd imagine Rafi is a tad annoyed about that.

Pitch looks really cut up?

I kind of agree with Carps starting. I never understood why players coming back from injury (at any level) start on the bench. What happens if he comes on after 50 and breaks down after 10?

For me, it’s better to have more control of the situation by saying to stay on for as long as he can. If that’s 10, we’re no worse off than we would be in the situation I mention. If he lasts 50, brilliant.

[Yareet]

Right the good news is that we look the better team in both attack and defence.

The negative is that we’re throwing it away through stupid penalties and lax play. We can change that but I’m not sure we have the brain power at the moment

[Olyy]

Good try by JV - he's had some big carries this game

[Olyy]

Second half much more like it

Jibulu big carry and then RMW cannonballs through for our 5th try

[Yareet]

That Raffi try is beautiful.

If the players were reversed (Smith outpacing Raffi) TNT would’ve been pleasuring themselves for the rest of the season

[Yareet]

Right the good news is that we look the better team in both attack and defence.

The negative is that we’re throwing it away through stupid penalties and lax play. We can change that but I’m not sure we have the brain power at the moment

Very glad to be wrong

[Surbiton_Shark]

Out of interest….who do we reckon is quicker off the mark and also at full pace? Flats or Quirke???

[Olyy]

Think Raffi definitely has the better acceleration,
Not sure about top speed - often thought Flats is deceptively quick when he gets the room to show it

[Olyy]

Well I wasn't expecting that result - Quins looked really bad, but not like we've been setting the world alight this season, thought it would be a lot closer (like the first half)

Hopefully this can spark some life into the season (deja vu from my post-Clermont thoughts)
Hopefully Carps and Bev are ok - Carps did look fine coming off but Bev did have a few moments limping in the first half (though apparently the half time sub was pre determined, not injury)

Not sure I'd want to see him in a kick fest/competing for high balls but Raffi did well enough on the wing, wouldn't be surprised to see us drop to a 6:2 bench when BC is back and him be genuine cover for there

Setpiece looked good - Quins scrum has been alright this season and we looked on top all game

[Surbiton_Shark]

Phew! Really needed that

[RinTin]

That’s more like it. Guys coming back had a big impact.

Just watched the Raffi try back. EVR is busting a gut sprinting 50m after him to get there in support. What an engine. Said it before, but I think his captaincy appointment was a great decision.

Let’s see what the results tomorrow bring. Gloucester win would be nice, but we’re still a long way off top 4.

[Flumpty]

I really, really enjoyed watching that. With the 2nd half in particular, I'm not sure if we were really good, or Quins were absolute poo.

Inspired substitution by Quins bringing on Alex Dombrandt

Jibulu looked more than a touch happy playing agaiunst his old buddies

[Lord Elpus]

Xmas gifts exchanged.
Pleased for Bamber ; again an unsung hero. Andrews also put in a shift. TC pure class. Harper went well.
Is RdP a better bet at 10 with reduced forces than Ford?

[RinTin]

Is RdP a better bet at 10 with reduced forces than Ford?

Let’s not start this.

[Olyy]

Bamber increasingly noticeable in the lineout, as well - not just as our main target but on opposition throws

Very impressive considering he'd never seen a lineout before 2020

[Whaley Shark]

A few nice moments from Wehr as well, I thought, when he got on, and pretty rapid too

[Clutch]

Raffi significantly quicker than TOF. TOF is not fast. Definitely shows how much flair and pace we lack in the3:4 when Raffi is arguably our most dangerous winger. Something we need to address, which we have started to in signing Marchant.

If Raffi can play 80, ie fully fit then him moving to the wing is great. He can start at 9, and if hes having “one of those games” at 9, then we can move him across.

[ledzepsfr]

You're supposed to give presents off the field.

Tempo - Specsavers!

I don't think Specsavers can help Tempo. As in Saints game, he is very anti Sale.


I've listened to a few pods recently where some of the chat is that teams are moving away from some more traditional positions and versatile players covering instead. They focused on Marcus Smith 10/15, Elliot Daly 15/11/14 and Rob Du Preez 10/12/13

So it seems that AS isn't necessarily playing players out of position, just aligning the bench with more options, as is the current trend.


edited to add pod comment.

[SSR]

Watched the replay after all the family gathering had finished not knowing the result.
Tearing my hair out at the start, felt great at the end.
I am guessing that the wind was quite strong as it seemed to affect the kicking a lot.
We looked so much better with the returning players.
Two best highlights, Tom Curry driving CCS backwards at pace, Raffi's try.
Brilliant second half, and a very welcome result. Thank you all.

[Bronzbronx]

Enjoying seeing Alex Wills progress. Louw proving to be very useful too.

[dinogyro]

A few nice moments from Wehr as well, I thought, when he got on, and pretty rapid too

Why aren't we giving him more game time? He only seems to get the last few minutes of each game.

[LJK]

With Xmas out of the way I watched the game tonight and delighted with the result of course. The TNT team dramatise everything and have already billed the game as the start 'of the Sale second half of the season comeback' I am hoping that the results are more positive for the next weeks, but it is clearly so hard to predict our form at present, and that of others too.
We win comfortably against teams out of form like Quins and before that Clermont, but then lose just as heavily to teams playing well. In the close matches like Exeter and Leics. we just fail.
But......having seen what a below strength Saints team did to the mighty Bath today, it perhaps puts our loss last weekend to a full strength Saints side into perspective?
After what Bristol did to Quins last weekend I was concerned about our visit to Ashton Gate next weekend. However, today bottom placed Newcastle appeared to have kept the score looking OK until later in the game, so maybe Sale will fare better next round? Can't see it being a repeat of the amazing equivalent fixture last year, but we can hope!

Interesting that in the post match interview LCD said he had driven up from Devon on Boxing day morning having had a good Xmas lunch at home, and he was going back for another after the game! Now I know he is half my age but was it wise to do such a long drive just hours before a massive game? Maybe that accounted for the cock up with the throw in near the start which allowed Quins to score so easily. Anyway, he then went on to have another great game, so no harm done.
Looked like a great crowd there for once....any idea of numbers given what we heard about the downturn in crowds at SS?