Easter eager to lock horns with Powell and guarantee top spot
Q What happened the last time you played Sale in the Aviva Premiership?
A I was at the World Cup last time but I know we won 48-41. I won money off Mark Cueto as we had a bet on the outcome but he still hasn’t paid up so I’ll ask him to show me the money after the game
Q What type of game can supporters expect to see tomorrow?
A Sale’s back three like to run the ball but they’ve also got a big powerful forward pack. We like to play with ball in hand as well. There’s a time when you don’t and their pitch is quite narrow so early on it might be better off playing for territory.
Q Who do you perceive to be their main threats?
A Their full-back Rob Miller is very powerful and is starting to come into a bit of form. From a defensive point of view Dave Seymour is very hard to shake off when he gets himself over the ball.
Q Which individual match-up are you most looking forward to seeing?
A Personally I’m looking forward to playing against Andy Powell again. I played against him when he was at Wasps and in a few England-Wales matches and he’s a very dynamic player. In the past there might only have been two or three big ball carriers in the league, now there are a lot more and we’ll have to concentrate when he’s on the attack.
Q How would you sum up your season since that meeting?
A Enjoyable. Winning helps that but we’ve always tried to keep pushing back the boundaries and I think that’s why it’s been so enjoyable.
Q Which current academy player can we expect to see big things of in the future?
A Rob Buchanan. He’s got that grittiness you need as a hooker and his scrummaging prowess is extremely impressive. He’s had the better of Leicester and Saracens recently and since making his debut he’s not been fazed by anything.
Q What has been your personal highlight of the season so far?
A I would say beating Toulouse away was the highlight. We lost to them at home and when we went down there no-one was expecting anything big out of us and we out-scored them three tries to two. A lot had been said about our unbeaten run at the beginning of the season and that we couldn’t beat a strong team. That was the first time we proved we could.
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PREMIERSHIP D-DAY: THE PERMUTATIONS
Fixtures
Leicester v Bath, 2pm
London Irish v Gloucester, 2pm
Northampton v Worcester, 2pm
Sale v Harlequins, 2pm
Saracens v Exeter, 2pm
Wasps v Newcastle, 2pm
At The Top
Harlequins, Leicester and Saracens could all still finish top, while Northampton are set for fourth
At The Bottom
Newcastle need a bonus-point win over Wasps, or to beat them by at least 24 points, to avoid relegation