Premiership
Mateo Carreras back and ready for Friday night
Tuesday 22 November 2022
Newcastle Falcons’ foreign legion are available for Friday’s Gallagher Premiership visit of Exeter Chiefs following their international exploits, with Argentina wing Mateo Carreras saying he can’t wait to get stuck in.
The winger set social media alight in his last appearance for the Falcons, when his 80-metre solo try at Northampton accrued more than a million views and landed him a second successive Famous Grouse Try of the Month award.
He followed that up by starting in Argentina’s historic one-point victory over England at Twickenham, and returns now for club duty after also playing for Los Pumas against Wales.
“I loved my time away with Argentina, it’s always a huge honour to play for your country but it’s also great to be back with the Falcons,” said Carreras, who is joined at Kingston Park by countrymen Matias Orlando and Matias Moroni as well as USA lock Greg Peterson.
“I don’t find it difficult at all to go from the Argentina squad to being back with Newcastle – I think it’s exciting.
“If I’m involved in the game on Friday I want to give back to the team, and show the learning and improvement from when I was away with Argentina. Hopefully that will help us to bring back the win, but I’ve enjoyed being back with the Falcons so far.”
Crossing for five tries in five games in Newcastle colours this season, Carreras’ last club outing saw his name up in lights thanks to THAT try at Northampton.
Not that the 23-year-old is letting the acclaim go to his head.
“I don’t like to pay too much attention to social media,” said the former Argentina 7s and Under-20s international.
“I like to put the focus inside me to improve my rugby rather than reading what people are saying about me, but obviously it’s nice when things go well and you help the team. I’m not bothered about any individual praise because it’s all about the team. If I can score more tries like that and help the team to win, then that’s all I’m thinking about – the win.”
With that try, and his previous length-of-the-field effort against Bristol, comes extra attention from opposition defences – not that Carreras finds it a problem.
“Hopefully, yeah,” he said, when asked if he expects to become a marked man.
“I want to be in the head of the other team, I want them to think I’m a key player and I like to play like that.
“The reason is because if extra defenders are on me or if the defence is set up to stop me, then there is space or a weakness somewhere else on the field, and it’s all part of the puzzle to work out where the space is and to get the ball there.
“If I have two guys on me then someone else is going to be unmarked, and I’ve done my job by helping to create that space. I’m not saying that teams are going to do that, but if they do, then we adapt and use it to our advantage.”
Hopeful that his time away with Argentina can have a positive impact on his club game, Carreras said: “It was really good being on tour with the Pumas.
“As well as being a huge honour and playing in some great occasions it’s also a good environment to be in, and you learn a lot just by being there. I feel like I’ve improved during that time, and now I’m ready to take that into my club game if I’m selected.
“It was amazing playing at a full Twickenham against England. It’s a great stadium, I enjoyed the game and we managed to achieve a great result. When I was back in Argentina guys used to talk about Twickenham as some kind of mystical stadium, so to be there playing for my country was just so special.
“It was the best win of my life to be part of the team which beat England at Twickenham, and I’ll always remember that day.
“We made a lot of mistakes against Wales the following week. We prepared with the stadium roof open and the rain coming down, then when we got there for the game the roof was closed. We couldn’t change our tactics well enough, we started to kick a lot and maybe we could have been smarter in changing our decisions in that moment.
“It’s good to make those mistakes now and get them out of the way because we have the World Cup next season, and this is all good learning as we prepare for that.”
Fully focused now on Friday’s home date with Exeter, he added: “We’ve had meetings about Exeter and done our analysis on them.
“They’re a really physical team and their rugby reflects that, but if we do our job I believe we have a very good team which is capable of winning the game.
“We know what we need to do, and the focus now is on doing it.”
Source – Newcastle Falcons Rugby
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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