Premiership
Kidney: Significance goes beyond Munster result
London Irish Director of Rugby Declan Kidney believes a final pre-season win has given his team more opportunities to grow ahead of next week’s Gallagher Premiership curtain-raiser against Worcester Warriors.
The Exiles won the Jack Wakefield Memorial Trophy on Friday evening following a 19-14 victory over Graham Rowntree’s Munster Rugby at Musgrave Park.
Irish never surrendered a lead on the night in Cork- backs James Stokes, Matt Williams and Henry Arundell all touching down to sustain the momentum from another away pre-season victory last week, against Jersey Reds.
Upon his return to his home province where he won two Heineken Cups with the Red Army, Kidney maintained there is “plenty to work on” for his current team ahead of the challenge of Warriors at the Gtech Community Stadium.
“It’s always very pleasing to come to a place like Munster and leave with a win,” the Director of Rugby said.
“But in pre-season, there’s more important things we can take away from the game.
“It showed us some of the things we need to focus and work on, we had a number of opportunities that if we exploit next week we’ll be a better side.
“Defensively, we stood up well but discipline-wise we gave away a few penalties to give them opportunities to score.
“Overall, we’re happy with the night’s work but there’s plenty to work on.”
The welcoming of new faces to the Club saw both Danilo Fischetti and Api Ratuniyarawa make their first appearances in London Irish green, having put pen-to-paper at Hazelwood this past offseason.
Of their performances, Kidney praised both highly, in accompaniment with admiration for the more junior players’ contributions in the closing quarter, which numbered two current Senior Academy players and six Academy graduates.
He continued: “Api [Ratuniyarawa] and Danilo [Fischetti] are guys that we looked to bring in this time last year and they played very well this evening, as did all the younger players.
“Bringing them on in the last 20 minutes up against the other younger players from Munster will be a good experience for them.
“They showed a lot of composure to finish the game off.”
Looking ahead to next week’s proposition against Worcester Warriors, Kidney is wary of the elevation in vigour on the pitch as the Gallagher Premiership season approaches.
“That’s a whole different ball game, the intensity is going to go up two, three-fold.
“We have done our pre-season now, we have the rest of this weekend off so we can come in fully rested in order to have a good week’s work leading into next Saturday.”
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Sale Sharks can confirm that fly-half George Ford suffered a tear to his right quad during the early stages of the Gallagher Premiership round two game at Saracens on Saturday. Following a positive consultation with a specialist it was decided that George does not require surgery and he will now begin his rehab ahead of a busy period for club and country.
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Alex Sanderson has made six changes to his starting XV to face Gloucester Rugby in the first game of the season under the Salford Stadium Friday night lights, while summer signing Le Roux Roets appears in a matchday squad for the first time (Discovery+, 7.45pm KO).
Josh Beaumont, Ernst van Rhyn and Rouban Birch come into the pack following the round two defeat at Saracens, while Sam Bedlow, Will Addison and Arron Reed are picked in the backs to face George Skivington’s men.
In total, 12 of the XV and 19 in the matchday 23 have come through or spent time in the Sharks Academy.
The Sharks front-row remains intact from the trip to the StoneX as England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie lines up once again between 20-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour and loosehead Si McIntyre.
Al has picked a towering second-row as Ben Bamber teams up with Josh Beaumont.
With Ben and Tom Curry as well as JL du Preez all missing as they undergo their return to play protocols following head injuries, Ernst van Rhyn returns alongside fellow flanker Sam Dugdale and Birch at number 8.
Gus Warr starts again at scrum-half but with George Ford injured (quad) he’ll have skipper Rob du Preez for company at half-back. After coming on as a replacement against Saracens, Bedlow starts alongside Addison, who makes his first start since re-joining the club in the summer.
Speedster Arron Reed makes his first appearance of the season alongside Tom Roebuck and full-back Joe Carpenter.
Hooker Ethan Caine, and props Tumy Onasanya and James Harper cover the front row from the replacements bench with England U20s lock Tom Burrow and summer signing Le Roux Roets covering the rest of the forwards. Nye Thomas, Tom Curtis and Waisea Nayacalevu cover the backs.
Sale Sharks starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Will Addison, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Arron Reed, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Josh Beaumont 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Rouban Birch.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Tom Burrow, 20. Le Roux Roets, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Waisea Nayacalevu.
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Injuries have forced Alex Sanderson to make three changes to his starting XV to face Saracens at the StoneX on Saturday (3.05pm KO, Saturday 28th September, live on TNT Sports).
Si McIntyre replaces last week’s Player of the Match Bevan Rodd (hamstring), while Ben Bamber and Sam Dugdale come in for Ernst van Rhyn and Tom Curry who are both undergoing their return to play protocols after leaving the field during the round one win over Harlequins.
With Sam Bedlow returning to the bench to make a 5-3 split, the matchday squad features 16 players who have come through or been involved with the Sale Sharks Academy.
In the front-row, England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie lines up between 20-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour and returning loosehead McIntyre.
Al has picked a towering second-row as Bamber teams up with Hyron Andrews.
Openside flanker Ben Curry captains the side again and he and Dugdale will pack down either side of Jean-Luc du Preez at number 8.
The backs are unchanged from the narrow win over Quins, with Gus Warr starting again at scrum-half alongside fly-half George Ford, and Rob du Preez and Waisea Nayacalevu outside them in the centres.
Alex has picked a familiar back three once again with Tom O’Flaherty, Tom Roebuck and full-back Joe Carpenter hoping to provide the spark.
The replacements bench is an exclusively Sharks Academy affair with hooker Ethan Caine, and props Tumy Onasanya and James Harper covering the front row. Josh Beaumont and Rouban Birch make up the rest of the forwards, while Nye Thomas, Bedlow and Will Addison cover the backs.
Sale Sharks Starting lineup:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacalevu, 12. Rob du Preez, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Sam Dugdale, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Rouban Birch, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Will Addison.
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