Sharks: 15.Rob Miller, 14.Tom Brady, 13.Will Addison, 12.Sam Tuitupou (capt.), 11.Mark Cueto, 10.Nick Macleod, 9.Cillian Willis, 1.Andrew Sheridan, 2.Joe Ward, 3.Tony Buckley, 4.Andrei Ostrikov, 5. Kearnan Myall, 6.Mark Easter, 7.David Seymour, 8.Andy Powell.
Replacements: 16.Marc Jones, 17.Lee Imiolek, 18.Henry Thomas, 19.Tom Holmes, 20.Tommy Taylor, 21. Scott Mathie, 22. Andrew Higgins, 23.Charlie Amesbury

Sharks CEO Steve Diamond said, “Kingsholm is always a difficult place to visit. A win would be the ‘icing on the cake’ for everybody at our club, but we know we’ll have to produce our best performance of the season. “

The Springbok and Sharks lock forward, 25, said: “Everybody in South African rugby knows there is something special happening at Saracens, and I can’t wait to get stuck in and make a contribution to the continuing development of the club. This is a fantastic opportunity for me at a crucial stage of my rugby career.”

Mark McCall, Director of Rugby, said: “Alistair has a fantastic pedigree in SA Rugby, and we are confident he will flourish in our environment.”

Andrei Ostrikov, who has not featured since the first Saturday in February, comes into the second row and Joe Ward starts at hooker. James Gaskell switches from lock to flanker. Henry Thomas is included in the squad for the first time since New Year’s Day: the England Saxons prop damaged a knee at Leicester, as well as having to have his face stitched following a clash with colleague David Seymour!

Sharks Team: 15.Rob Miller, 14.Tom Brady, 13.Johnny Leota, 12.Sam Tuitupou (capt.), 11.Mark Cueto, 10.Nick Macleod, 9.Dwayne Peel,1.Andrew Sheridan,2. Joe Ward, 3.Tony Buckley,4.Andrei Ostrikov,5.Kearnan Myall,6.James Gaskell,7.David Seymour,8.Andy Powell.

Replacements: 16. Marc Jones, 17.Vadim Cobilas, 18.Henry Thomas,19.Richie Vernon,20.Mark Easter,21.Cillian Willis, 22.Will Addison,23.Charlie Amesbury.

Sharks’ CEO Steve Diamond said, "Bath are a very good side, with World-class players, including Michael Claassens and Stephen Donald. We were competitive at Newcastle, but didn’t manage the game for the full eighty minutes. We’ve hopefully rectified that in training.

"Our side has trained well this week, and we’re looking forward to the final Friday night Aviva Premiership fixture at Edgeley Park. We’re looking to continue to progress and produce a good, hardworking performance."

Danny who can play Fly Half , Centre and Full back has starred for Melbourne Rebels since leaving Wasps in 2010.

Capped seven times by England, Danny is rated as one of the best Fly Halves in World Rugby.

He made his debut as a 17 year old for Wasps against Bristol in 2004 (Powergen Cup). His first Premiership start was against Worcester in January 2007 when he was man of the match.

In 2008 was voted PRA Young player of the year and the Guinness Premiership Discovery of the Season

Danny captained England at U16 level and was part of the England Saxons side that won the Churchill Cup at Twickenham in 2007.

Danny made his full England debut v Ireland in March 2008 replacing Jonny Wilkinson. He kicked all his points and controlled the game well in England’s 33-10 victory. Danny has played 7 times for England scoring 49 points.

In his Melbourne debut against the Brumbies he scored 17points and helped the Rebels to victory.

Sharks CEO Steve Diamond said, "Quality signings such as Danny Cipriani and Richie Gray are a massive statement of intent from the Sharks, as we aim to become a Super Northern Club. Danny has been targeted by many European clubs but has chosen to be based in Manchester as he feels that the Sharks give him the best opportunity to fulfil his aspirations to be the no 1 fly-half in England by the time of the 2015 Rugby World Cup."

Andrei Ostrikov misses the match through injury, so James Gaskell switches to the second row to accommodate Vernon’s return.  Wame Lewaravu covers on the bench in an otherwise unchanged squad.

Sharks: 15.Rob Miller, 14.Tom Brady, 13.Johnny Leota, 12.Sam Tuitupou (capt.), 11.Mark Cueto, 10.Nick Macleod, 9.Dwayne Peel, 1.Andrew Sheridan, 2.Marc Jones, 3.Vadim Cobilas, 4.Kearnan Myall, 5.James Gaskell, 6.Richie Vernon, 7.David Seymour, 8.Andy Powell.

Replacements: 16.Joe Ward, 17.Ross Harrison, 18.Tony Buckley, 19.Wame Lewaravu, 20.Mark Easter, 21.Cillian Willis, 22. Luther Burrell, 23.Joaquin Tuculet.

Looking ahead to the game at Exeter, Sharks’ Head Coach Tony Hanks said, “We’ve taken some confidence out of the last three weeks and have been building nicely.  We’re well aware of how tough it will be down at Sandy Park.  The Chiefs taught us a lesson earlier in the season: they’re never beaten.  They have a proud home record and will want to respond after their narrow defeat to Bath last weekend. We have a lot of respect for them, but there’s a real focus on what we’re doing and what we want to achieve. This is a crucial game for us – the first of six rounds which will determine our final placing.”

In three previous top flight meetings, Rob Baxter’s side have triumphed on each occasion – including a memorable 30-23 victory at Edgeley Park back in November.

That success, however, was made all the more memorable as the Chiefs battled back from a 23-7 half-time deficit to claim the spoils in a thrilling encounter. Ignacio Mieres’ last-gasp try, which he also converted, famously put the seal on a memorable fight back from the Devon club.

Ahead of this latest match-up, though, the Sharks have begun circling and their impressive home win over London Wasps will mean they head down from Manchester not only looking for revenge, but at the same time brimming with confidence as they too look to get amongst the end of season play-off picture.

Currently they are level on 40 points with the sixth-placed Chiefs, who sit just a place above them in the standings. And with both clubs just five points off the top four, the importance of victory this weekend is not lost in either camp.

One man relishing the game is Exeter’s assistant coach Ali Hepher, who says the disappointment of last week’s home defeat to Bath has been quickly put to bed by his team – and instead they are fully focused on inflicting another telling bite into Sale’s seasonal aspirations.

"We’re excited about this week because it’s a great challenge for us and a good opportunity to kick on again," said Hepher. "Of course we were disappointed with the result against Bath, but it was easily brushed over earlier in the week and we’ve since focused on this weekend as opposed to looking in the past.

"We’ve gone back to a little bit of basics this week, but we’ve not changed too much as it were. At the end of the day we know we’re not a bad side just because of one performance."

Having led 6-0 against bogey side Bath at the break a week ago, the Chiefs were downed for the first time in the Premiership in 2012 by four second half penalties from Bath fly-half Tom Heathcote, who won his kicking duel with opposite number Mieres in a 12-9 success.

And despite the setback, Hepher insists the mood within the home camp remains as positive as ever, especially as they have already picked up victories over Leicester Tigers and London Wasps in this current block of fixtures.

"If you look at this same block last year, we only got six points out of it," explained Hepher. "Already we have picked up nine so far and we’d like to pick up more and push up the league. We’re pleased with the way things are going because before last week we had won three league games on the spin; we’d won a key match in Europe; and the guys have done fantastically well.

"As I said, we’re not going to push the panic button just because of one result. We’re happy with where we are right now, but we’ll look to improve on a few things and hopefully get a result at the weekend."

Tackling the Sharks will be no easy matter for the Chiefs and Hepher has warned his players they will need to produce a big display if they are to be successful.

"They will be a massive challenge," he said. "They played very well last weekend and scored a lot of tries [against Wasps]. They have an exciting team up there, but equally I feel we have a strong enough side to put in a big performance again them. And I know if we get that performance right, hopefully the result will take care of itself."

Indeed, a repeat performance of Exeter’s second half show at Sale earlier in the season would be just the ticket for the Chiefs, who after tomorrow’s match have a two-week rest break following their exit from the LV= Cup.

That win helped Exeter end a run of four successive Premiership defeats and has been mentioned as a crucial turning point in the club’s fortunes this term.

"When you look back on it you realise it was an important moment for us, especially coming out of a few losses," added Hepher. "All the time We are very much about moving on and we don’t tend to dwell on things too long. That said, obviously it will be a tough game again this weekend, so we’ll try and take some of the things we learnt through that game, especially the second half, and hopefully replicate that this weekend."

Team news for the Chiefs sees them make two changes to the side they lost to Bath. In the pack, James Hanks returns in the second-row in place of Peter Short; whilst Bryan Rennie has been rewarded for an impressive display in Monday’s A League game by taking over in the centre from Nic Sestaret. On the bench there are returns for prop Ben Moon and flanker Ben White – they take over from John Andress and James Phillips respectively.

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE SALE SHARKS

15 Phil Dollman
14 Gonzalo Camacho
13 Bryan Rennie
12 Jason Shoemark
11 Matt Jess
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Haydn Thomas
1 Hoani Tui
2 Chris Whitehead
3 Craig Mitchell
4 Tom Hayes (capt)
5 James Hanks
6 Tom Johnson
7 James Scaysbrook
8 Richard Baxter

16 Neil Clark
17 Ben Moon
18 Chris Budgen
19 Aly Muldowney
20 Ben White
21 Kevin Barrett
22 Gareth Steenson
23 Nic Sestaret

The game was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday evening but as the temperatures are due to fall as the week goes on, the kick off time has been changed.

Sale Sharks Head of Media Dave Swanton explained, “ Nigel Felton is bringing his hot air system to the ground today and the pitch will be covered until just before kick off time. Nigel advised that a late kick off may cause problems in that the pitch could become unplayable as the temperatures fall. With the safety of the players in mind we highlighted this to the RFU who contacted the broadcasters and the kick off time change was agreed. The game will now be screened on delayed transmission.”

Swanton added, “ We would like to thank the RFU, Premiership Rugby, Scarlets and S4C for the help in changing the kick off time.”

Sale Sharks:

15. Rob Miller

14. Tom Brady

13. Andrew Higgins

12. Johnny Leota

11. Luther Burrell

10, Nick Macleod

9.  Cillian Willis

1. Alasdair Dickinson

2. Tommy Taylor

3. Henry Thomas

4. Fraser McKenzie

5. Andrei Ostrikov

6. James Gaskell

7. David Seymour (capt.)

8. Richie Vernon

16. Marc Jones

17. Lee Imiolek

18. Vadim Cobilas

19. Kearnan Myall

20. Andy Powell

21. Scott Mathie

22. Sam Tuitupou

23. Joaquin Tuculet

Sharks’ Executive Director of Sport Steve Diamond said, “On the back of two away wins, we’ve now got two matches at Edgeley Park – both completely different. The pressure of progressing in the Amlin Challenge Cup is there – we want to win it.  We’re fielding a strong side.  We know that Agen will be making changes after their Top 14 match last Tuesday, but their team will be in accordance with the competition rules, selected from their nominated squad.

We know it will be a highly competitive game on Sunday, and we want our home crowd to be vociferous.”

23, and centre Jordan Davies, 21, moving to the Championship side.

Titterrell was a Premiership winner with the Sharks during his first spell at the club between 2000 and 2007 and will move back to Edgeley Park on loan until the end of January when he will return to Leeds Carnegie ahead of the Championship Play Offs.

Cliff and Davies will join up with Leeds Carnegie with immediate effect for the remainder of the season and could be part of the squad for this Saturday’s final pool game in the British & Irish Cup game at Pontypridd.

Sale Sharks Executive Director of Rugby Steve Diamond said, “ Andy was a young lad at the club during my first spell of coaching and I have followed his career with interest. He is a great competitor and will give us the extra options we need at Hooker at this crucial point in the season. Andy joined us this morning for his first training session and is training with the first team squad. Regarding Will and Jordan’s moves to Leeds it will give both lads plenty of good quality competitive rugby to play on a regular basis. As with Iain and Tommy we will be watching their progress with interest.”

Commenting on the new arrangements Chief Executive Gary Hetherington said, “This is not a decision we have taken lightly as Andy is a huge part of our club and where we want to be in the future. However, we recognise the fact that we have an excellent relationship with Sale and the fact that Andy would have no interest in playing for any other Premiership club other than the Sharks, who he still has a close bond with. We already have Tommy Bell and Iain Thornley on loan from Sale for the entire season and both players have been outstanding for us and the addition of Will Cliff and Jordan Davies will strengthen our squad in key positions for our promotion push in the New Year.”

Titterrell, who made 122 Premiership appearances for the Sharks in his first spell at the club, is looking forward to the challenge of playing in the top flight again this season. He added, “This was a very difficult decision to make because we are building something special at Leeds Carnegie. However, I know the relationship with Sale Sharks is an important one for the club and I am looking forward to playing for the Sharks until the end of January.”

Also included in the matchday squad is former Auckland Blues flanker Onosa’i Auva’a,  who is set for his Sharks’ debut if he comes off the bench.

Sharks: 15.Rob Miller, 14.Mark Cueto, 13.Johnny Leota, 12.Sam Tuitupou (capt.), 11. Joaquin Tuculet, 10.Nick Macleod, 9.Dwayne Peel, 1.Alasdair Dickinson, 2.Marc Jones, 3.Henry Thomas, 4.Fraser McKenzie, 5.Kearnan Myall, 6.James Gaskell, 7.David Seymour, 8.Andy Powell.

Replacements :16.Tommy Taylor, 17.Vadim Cobilas, 18.Tony Buckley, 19.Richie Vernon, 20.Onosa’i Auva’a. 21.Cillian Willis, 22.Tasesa Lavea, 23.Luther Burrell.

Sharks’ Executive Director of Sport Steve Diamond said, “In terms of our development, this match is the most pivotal game of the season. Exeter are a good side.  They are very workmanlike, keep the ball well and they wait for you to make a mistake. If we can achieve parity at our lineout and scrum, we can get some joy out of the game.”