Puma power in Sale's last trial
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:32
Argentinian international Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will captain a strong Sale Sharks side in their final pre-season game, against French side Lyon at Edgeley Park on Thursday.
Mathew Tait will play at fullback and while Andy Tuilagi, who played well last week in the games against Sedgely Tigers and Leeds Carnegie, starts at centre.
Head coach Kingsley Jones has not decided who will start at scrumhalf.
"This our last warm-up game before we travel to Newcastle in the opening round of the Guinness Premiership," coach Kingsley Jones said.
"We will decide on who starts at scrumhalf tomorrow [Thursday], but both Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth] and Dwayne [Peel] will play in the game. There are places up for grabs for the opening game and the players know this."
Unavailable are Rory Lamont, Luke Abraham and Andrew Sheridan - who picked up knocks last week, but will be available for selection for the Newcastle game.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Luke McAlister, 12 Andy Tuilagi, 11 Dave Doherty, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth/Dwayne Peel, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 6 Chris Jones, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Eifion Roberts, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Lionel Faure.
Replacements - from: Marc Jones, Neil Briggs, Stuart Turner, Martin Halsall, Michael Hills, Carl Fearns, Brent Cockbain, Richard Wigglesworth/Dwayne Peel, Nick Macleod, Nick Royle, Oriol Ripol, Chris Bell.
Date: Thursday, August 28
Venue: Edgeley Park, Manchester
Kick-off: 19.45 (18.45 GMT)
Referee: Martin Fox
Touch judges: Robin Goodliffe, Dale Newitt
