Sale Sharks will be positioning the match, to be known as Rugby at the Reebok, as a celebration of North West rugby inviting rugby players and supporters at all ages and levels from across the region to participate in the day.  As such, the club will be moving the match to a Saturday evening kick-off – Saturday 16^th April 17.30.  The Sharks have already been in discussions with the Lancashire and Cheshire County Unions to request that all of the community club matches on that day kick-off at 13.00 to enable the regions amateur players to attend the match. 

In addition to the rugby, there will be some outstanding pre and post match entertainment, and tickets have been reasonably prices with good seats starting at just £10 adults and £5 for juniors under 16, all aimed to make Rugby at the Reebok a fun event for the whole family.

Sharks long-serving fly half Charlie Hodgson says the whole squad is excited by the opportunity to run out onto the Reebok Stadium in front of 28,200 supporters. 

“As a player, you want to be play rugby on the biggest stage.  To have the opportunity to play for Sale Sharks at one of the UK’s great stadiums will be a fantastic honour for the players who are selected.  Having begun my career with the club in front of 1800 people at Heywood Road, it’s absolutely amazing to think that we will be playing a home match at a world class stadium in front of 28,200 people.”

The club’s Chief Executive Mick Hogan wants to achieve a sell out crowd. 

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of nearly twelve months work to enable us to announce this event.  We now have 7 months to achieve a sell out crowd, and I truly believe that there are almost 30,000 people in the North West who would like to attend a live game of Sale Sharks’ rugby.   We want to show the North West some real ambition and give the region a rugby team that they can truly be proud to support.”

“This isn’t a one-off either.  We have an agreement with Bolton that will see us bring a Premiership game to the Reebok Stadium over each of the next three seasons.”

Tickets are available now from the Sale Sharks’ ticket office.

Coach John Fletcher was always confident that his side had the talent to test the visitors and they fulfilled all his expectations in holding the whip-hand from the moment full-back Jonathan Joseph (London Irish) crossed for the opening try and fly-half Jake Sharp (Saracens) converted.

Sharp claimed the second after 19 minutes and converted his own score for a 14-0 lead and while Australian centre Matthew Garland cut the deficit with a 29th minute try to raise the visitors’ morale and make the interval scoreline 14-5.

However, a third try from wingman Earl Collins (Worcester Warriors) on 40 minutes opened up the lead once again, although once again the tourists refused to concede the struggle and rallied with a try by flanker Jack de Guingand that scrum-half and captain Matthew Lucas converted to bring his side within a score at 19-12.

Sharp then steadied the home team’s nerves with a penalty before leaving the field as a precaution ahead of an outing on the Saracens bench against Castres on Friday, but Joseph had the last word when he crossed for the final try after 68 minutes.

A cameo moment for the hosts came when 16-year-old replacement centre Mark Jennings from Lymm High School and Sale Sharks took the field when the management elected to use all their replacements.

The tourists now stay in the North West to prepare for their next game, an international against England Under 18s at Sale FC’s Heywood Road headquarters on Sunday (2pm), when coach Fletcher will once again be in charge.

“The game was very tough, physical battle,” said Fletcher: “We lacked precision at times and it was a bit scrappy but for us to score four tries against opposition of that calibre after only half a day’s preparation was a pretty good effort,” said Fletcher. “So far as the tourists are concerned, they compete well for the ball and they are very dangerous in broken play situations, as you would expect.”

England U19 Regional Academies 27 (Tries: Joseph 2, Sharp, Collins. Con: Sharp 2. Pen: Sharp) Australia Schools 12 (Tries: Garland, De Guingand. Con: Lucas)

England Academies squad: forwards: Harry Allen (Saracens), Pete Austin (London Irish), Ryan Bower (Leicester Tigers), Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers), Ben Glynn (Bristol Rugby), Tom Hicks (Northampton Saints), Sam Jones (London Wasps), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Jethro Rawling (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Steadman (Leeds Carnegie), Henry Thomas (Sales Sharks), Mako Vunipola (Bristol Rugby). Backs: Tommy Bell (Sales Sharks), Earl Collins (Worcester Warriors), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ryan Glynn (Sales Sharks), Mark Jennings (Sale Sharks), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Jake Sharp (Saracens), Andy Short (Worcester), Sam Stuart (Harlequins), Marcus Watson (London Irish).

Workington born, Mark joined Sale Sharks in 2000 and made his debut on the wing at Bristol in 2001. He has since been one of the most consistent wingers in the Premiership and is one of only three players to have scored over 50 tries (now stands at 67 tries in 137 games). One record Mark shares with Chris Oti is that in 2005 he scored a try in eight consecutive Premiership games.

Mark said, ” I have played all my professional rugby at Sale Sharks and want to finish my career here too. I have some great times and want to help Kingsley and Jason to bring more trophies to the club.”

However Mark has been keeping a watchful eye on his home county of Cumbria over the last few days and said, “I saw the footage of Cumbria on television last week whilst I was on England duty and all the landmarks I remember were completely under water. I then spoke to the Sharks Media Manager Dave Swanton, who has family connections up there whether there was any fund raising being done. Dave did some checking and said that the Cumbria Community Foundation, based in Cockermouth had set up the ‘Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund.’

Mark continued, “On my return to Manchester I asked Sharks CEO James Jennings if there was anything we could do as a club and we agreed that a bucket collection at the game against London Wasps on Friday would raise some much needed money and enhance the awareness about the flood victims plight.”

CEO James Jennings said, “Sale Sharks is the biggest Rugby Union Club in the North West and several players who have played for the Sharks are from Cumbria. We have fans who travel down from Cumbria to watch our games and when Mark approached me about holding a bucket collection, I instantly agreed. Our Jets and Members of the Supporters Club have volunteered to give up their time before the game and hopefully we can send a sizeable cheque to the flood victims straight after the game on Friday night.”

The address of the appeal is Cumbria Community Foundation, Dovenby Hall, Cockermouth, Cumbria CA13 0PN

Please write Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund on the back of your cheque.