Sharks keep their faith in youth

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in Rugby News

Sale Sharks have named their squad to play Leeds Carnegie at Headingley in the LV= Cup on Sunday (kick off 3.00 p.m.). Iain Thornley (19) makes his first start and there’s a debut for Cumbrian winger Will Addison, aged 18.

Sharks: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Rhys Crane, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Iain Thornley, 11 Will Addison, 10 Matty James, 9 Dwayne Peel, 1 Lee Imiolek, 2 Ben Roberts, 3 Henry Thomas, 4 Chris Jones, 5 Sean Cox (Captain), 6 Chris Brightwell, 7 Neil McMillan, 8 Asaeli Boko.

Replacements 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Aston Croall, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Nic Rouse, 20 Dan Hall, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Chris Leck, 23 Anitelea Tuilagi.

The Sharks will again be under coaches Byron Hayward and Pete Anglesea.  Earlier this week, Pete said, “What the young players showed against London Irish is that they are a lot more mature both physically and mentally than most of their counterparts. They seemed to instantly adapt to senior rugby and it’s a credit to those lads.
“They are mentally tough and mentally mature. They are not fazed and I don’t want to knock that young players’ mentality out of them as I want them to play without fear.
“If your gut instinct tells you it’s the right thing, then I always think that’s the way you should play. The moment you remove that they lose something.”

Penrith-born winger Will Addison returned from injury to score two tries from full back in a friendly against Oxford University last Monday.

“He really stepped up to the mark and looked like a Chris Ashton type player and at the moment he’s really special,” Anglesea added.

Weepu commits to New Zealand rugby for another year

Posted on Nov 4, 2010 in NZ, SANZAR

Experienced All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu has re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union and Hurricanes, extending his commitment to the end of 2011.

New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) General Manager of Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen welcomed Weepu’s re-signing as an important retention of valuable experience and skill at the top level of rugby.

“We’re delighted that Piri wants to stay with us in what’s going to be an exciting year for New Zealand rugby.  We certainly saw his skill and talent with the All Blacks and Hurricanes this year and we know that he is keen to get back to the international scene once he recovers from injury,” Sorensen said. 

Weepu had been a certainty for selection to the All Blacks Telecom BackingBlack Tour, but he suffered a devastating leg injury playing for Wellington against Taranaki in the ITM Cup – just a day before the All Blacks squad was announced.

Lower Hutt-born Weepu has 44 All Blacks Test caps, 79 Super Rugby caps, and 54 caps for the Wellington Lions.  He debuted for the All Blacks in 2004, the same year he made his debut for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby.

West coast rugby sanctioned by NZRU

Posted on Oct 15, 2010 in Rugby News

West Coast Rugby has been stripped of five competition points and fined $2,500 today following a hearing before a subcommittee of the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) Board in Wellington today.

The hearing was convened to investigate a complaint that West Coast had breached the NZRU Player Eligibility Regulations during their Lochore Cup and Heartland Championship match against Wairarapa-Bush in Masterton on Saturday 2 October. West Coast won the match 35 – 30.

The subcommittee heard that West Coast knowingly breached the Player Eligibility Regulations in fielding the ineligible player under another player’s name on the team sheet and the match report.

NZRU Player Eligibility Regulations are fundamental to the integrity of the competition. In the case of this deliberate breach, the monetary fine and loss of points were considered to be an appropriate penalty.

The panel consisted of subcommittee Chairman Peter Hobbs, NZRU General Manager of Professional Rugby Neil Sorensen, and Board member Ivan Haines.

West Coast Rugby Union was represented by their Chief Executive Mike Connors and legal counsel John Sproat.

The removal of the five competition points puts West Coast on nine points, dropping them from second to fourth place on the Lochore Cup table.

Amlin teams for Friday

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 in Rugby News

FRIDAY TEAMS – ALL KICK-OFFS LOCAL TIME

POOL 2 – Sale Sharks V Cetransa El Salvador (19.45)

Sale Sharks: N MacLeod, T Brady, C Bell, A Tuilagi, B Cohen, C Hodgson, W Cliff, L Imiolek, M Jones [capt], J Forster, C Jones, W Lewaravu, C Brightwell, N McMillan, S Koyamaibole.
Replacements: N Briggs, S McIntyre, K Wihongi, N Rouse, S Cox, C Leck, R Miller, F Mulchrone
Cetransa El Salvador: I Davey, E Fernandez, J Carter, J Revilla, L Gascon, U Mai, P Feijoo, A Martínez, L Del Moral, M Castro, V Sanchez, S Souto, J Molina, A Nuñez Llorente, I Criado [capt].
Replacements: D Marron, P Murre, J Miranda, M Samuelu, C Souto, S Ibarra, M Raposo, K Williams
Referee: Cedric Marchat (France)

POOL 2 – Brive V Petrarca Rugby (20.00)

Brive: S Spedding, J Caminati, G Namy, R Lespinas, M Atayi, L Orquera, A Figuerola, V Kakovin, G Ribes, P Barnard, T Dubarry, D Browne, S Azoulai [capt], V Forgues, J Le Devedec.
Replacements: B Cabello, V Laval, P Idieder, J Elgoyhen, J Bonrepaux, S Perry, B Manteaux, V Waqaseduadua
Petrarca Rugby: J Sanchez, N Borgato, R Bertetti, Alessandro Chillon, W Spragg, T Walsh, Alberto Chillon, C Fazzari, N Gatto, D Chistolini, M Tveraga, D Fletcher, N Bezzati [capt], N Galatro, Z Ansell.
Replacements: O Gega, C Caporello, A Costa Repetto , M Sutto, A Billot, S Palmer, F Faggiotto, A Dal Corso
Referee: David Jones (Wales)

POOL 5 Agen V Gloucester Rugby (18.30)

Agen: F Cazeaux , S Vaka, J Robinson, B Petre, R Kolinisau, V Courrent, A Bales, A Nnomo, J Narjissi, G Muller, L Fa’aoso, D Lagrange, J Monribot [capt], U Fono, O Fonua.
Replacements: B Mach, M Moala, K Kouider, T Lassale, J O’Sullivan, M Machenaud, C Barnard, J Pelesasa
Gloucester Rugby: O Morgan, C Sharples, H Trinder, M Tindall [capt], T Voyce, N Robinson, D Lewis, A Dickinson, S Lawson, P Doran-Jones, D Attwood, J Hamilton, P Buxton, A Qera, L Narraway.
Replacements: O Azam, N Wood, P Capdevielle, W James, A Strokosch, J Pasqualin, F Burns, J Simpson-Daniel
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)

Chris Jones returns for Sharks

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 in Rugby News

Chris Jones returns to play for Sale Sharks for the first time since April against Cetransa El Salvador in the Amlin Challenge Cup at Edgeley Park tomorrow (7.45 p.m.). Chris Brightwell will make his senior debut for the club and is set be joined by Simon McIntyre and Fergus Mulchrone, if they are called onto the pitch from the bench. Charlie Hodgson makes a his second appearance on his comeback from a minor shoulder operation. Sharks will have to play without captain James Gaskell, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training last Monday, and could be out for some weeks.

Sharks Team:

Nick Macleod; Tom Brady, Chris Bell, Anitelea Tuilagi, Ben Cohen; Charlie Hodgson, Will Cliff; Lee Imiolek, Marc Jones (capt.), Jack Forster, Wame Lewaravu,  Chris Jones, Chris Brightwell , Neil McMillan, Sisaro Koyamaibole.

Replacements: Neil Briggs, Simon McIntyre, Karena Wihongi, Nic Rouse, Sean Cox, Chris Leck, Rob Miller, Fergus Mulchrone.