Johnny Leota and TJ Ioane will make a welcome return from international duty to join to the Sharks squad for their first home game of the new Aviva Premiership tonight.
The match against Worcester Warriors will also mark tighthead prop Vadim Cobilas’ 100th appearance for the club since joining in 2011.
Despite the return of his Samoan heavyweights, Steve Diamond urged caution ahead of the match against a resurgent Worcester side.
“Last Friday, we saw not only how they can attack but also how they defended against Northampton Saints,” he said.
“Last week our result was a huge wake-up call and the lads have been working hard on the training ground to make sure we are ready for Worcester.”
Second-row Bryn Evans described how his new team had endured a gruelling week and had been ‘asking a few hard questions of each other’ in training, in their bid to move on from the disappointment of last week’s defeat at Saracens.
Huge game for @SaleSharksRugby tonight. Must win!
— Ryan Bennett (@RyanBennett2393) October 23, 2015
“We’ve let down not only ourselves but our fans as well with the [Saracens] defeat,” he said.
“We want to go out there now and turn that around and put a good performance together at the AJ Bell Stadium.
“The Warriors came out last weekend and knocked off one of the top sides in the Aviva Premiership,
“Make no bones about it, it will be a really tough game for us and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Looking at the coming months Diamond emphasised the enormity of the task ahead for Sharks.
“Our target this season is to finish as high as possible to try and secure a place in the elite European competition and that won’t be easy,” he said.
“The season has been condensed due to the Rugby World Cup in that its rugby week after week, with no gaps and the season finishes at the same time in May as it normally does.
“The season promises to be exciting for supporters in that it won’t lose any momentum.”
Image courtesy of Sale Sharks via YouTube, with thanks.
