Sale vs Newcastle - Friday 7.45pm

[Puja]

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Sam Dugdale, 7 Tristan Woodman, 6 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Ben Bamber, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 James Harper, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Ethan Caine, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Tom O’Flaherty, 23 Sam Bedlow

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Max Clark, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Boeta Chamberlain, 9 James Elliott, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Fergus Lee-Warner, 5 Freddie Clarke, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 George McGuigan (c), 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Oscar Usher, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Simon Benitez Cruz, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Oli Spencer

Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Where to watch: TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports Ultimate and Discovery+
Referee: Joe James
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales and Wayne Falla
TMO: Andrew Jackson

[Puja]

Benitez Cruz making his way across from the Rugby Championship for his Newcastle debut, hopefully with someone having apprised him that the nice Senor Diamond who hired him has "left to explore other opportunities" while he's been away.

Can't see anything but a Sale win here.

Puja

[Epaminondas Pules]

Good to see Raffi back.

[FKAS]

I suspect this will be a brutal going over for Newcastle away at Sale. Newcastle have a couple of players back in but they look ready to get beaten up, up front.

[fivepointer]

Sale should be comfortable winners. Newcastle have to hope for some improvement and to at least be competitive.

[Scrumhead]

I suspect this will be a brutal going over for Newcastle away at Sale. Newcastle have a couple of players back in but they look ready to get beaten up, up front.

Could be worse TBH. They’ll be happier about facing Dugdale and Woodman than they would have been DDP and the Curry twins.

[FKAS]

I suspect this will be a brutal going over for Newcastle away at Sale. Newcastle have a couple of players back in but they look ready to get beaten up, up front.

Could be worse TBH. They’ll be happier about facing Dugdale and Woodman than they would have been DDP and the Curry twins.

True though I fully expect George Ford to put them in the right areas and the big Sale 1-6 to pummell Newcastle.

[twitchy]

A bit of a shame this is the friday evening televised game, I think it's going to be a massacre.

[FKAS]

Sale held up to deny them a third try on the 14th minute. Newcastle about to see a man into the bin.

[twitchy]

Yeah I switched off after the second try.

[Beasties]

Micky Rewcastle is a proper Newcastle name for LHs.

[FKAS]

Yeah I switched off after the second try.

It's been a long week, I've got a quiet house, beer in hand and Newcastle are lucky to only be 28-0 down after 35 mins. Not quite the spectacle I was hoping for either.

Dumb yellow card for LCD going for a miracle turnover after a Newcastle break. Hopefully that allows Newcastle back into this game otherwise it'll be a dull contest.

[Oakboy]

It feels like some of the Sale players should swap to Newcastle to make a game of it - like a 1st v 2nd XV game at school!

[fivepointer]

Predictably and disappointingly one sided. Not much to get excited about.

Newcastle dont really have anything much to offer. There isnt one part of their game that stands up and they simply have far too many ordinary players. Cruz offered a bit of a spark but he needs a few more to step up.

[FKAS]

I think the Red Bull guys are realising why so many people have put up with Diamond previously. He might be belligerent and grumpy but he gets teams playing. Dickens looks like he'd struggle to lead this team in the Championship. I know Newcastle lost the first game of the season under Diamond but the scoreline did flatter Sarries and you could at least see some fight in the Newcastle side. Last night was gutless, Sale didn't even play well.

[Puja]

Predictably and disappointingly one sided. Not much to get excited about.

Newcastle dont really have anything much to offer. There isnt one part of their game that stands up and they simply have far too many ordinary players. Cruz offered a bit of a spark but he needs a few more to step up.

The problem is that they're a very ordinary level of talent squad, of the kind that pretty much only one coach has the proven track record of being able to make a solid functional team out of, and they just fired him.

Puja

[Captainhaircut]

Predictably and disappointingly one sided. Not much to get excited about.

Newcastle dont really have anything much to offer. There isnt one part of their game that stands up and they simply have far too many ordinary players. Cruz offered a bit of a spark but he needs a few more to step up.

The problem is that they're a very ordinary level of talent squad, of the kind that pretty much only one coach has the proven track record of being able to make a solid functional team out of, and they just fired him.

Puja

They are a worse squad than last year and they got pumped nigh on every week last year too.

Red Bull are a brand and likely want someone like Diamond as far away as possible. Let’s not forget the endless abusing of officials and media down the years.

[Oakboy]

On the plus side, I thought LCD looked well up for it, Roebuck looked special and Ford was classy (apart from a feeble attempt to stop the Newcastle try). Quirk looked sharp and a step up from Warr. Rodd amused.

[FKAS]

Predictably and disappointingly one sided. Not much to get excited about.

Newcastle dont really have anything much to offer. There isnt one part of their game that stands up and they simply have far too many ordinary players. Cruz offered a bit of a spark but he needs a few more to step up.

The problem is that they're a very ordinary level of talent squad, of the kind that pretty much only one coach has the proven track record of being able to make a solid functional team out of, and they just fired him.

Puja

They are a worse squad than last year and they got pumped nigh on every week last year too.

Red Bull are a brand and likely want someone like Diamond as far away as possible. Let’s not forget the endless abusing of officials and media down the years.

Diamond's antics aren't particularly endearing but he was very good at developing an us Vs the world mentality. His team's were often a lot more than the sum of their parts. He might have been the antithesis of what they wanted long term but short term he'd have generated a competitive side (or at least a lot more competitive that the shower that Dickens is turning out). Keep the interest, the bums on seats and then quietly build for next season in the background with Townsend et al input.

[Puja]

Predictably and disappointingly one sided. Not much to get excited about.

Newcastle dont really have anything much to offer. There isnt one part of their game that stands up and they simply have far too many ordinary players. Cruz offered a bit of a spark but he needs a few more to step up.

The problem is that they're a very ordinary level of talent squad, of the kind that pretty much only one coach has the proven track record of being able to make a solid functional team out of, and they just fired him.

Puja

They are a worse squad than last year and they got pumped nigh on every week last year too.

Red Bull are a brand and likely want someone like Diamond as far away as possible. Let’s not forget the endless abusing of officials and media down the years.

Are they a worse squad than last year? They were haemorrhaging experienced players left and right to bigger clubs and were having to fill in the gaps with academy, local lads, and whomever they could find - at least this year they've been able to bring some players in and have some vague semblance of squad depth.

I get the Diamond may not necessarily mesh with the Red Bull brand, personality-wise, but a big part of the Red Bull brand is winning. If they had stuck with Diamond, he might've been abrasive and not media-friendly, but they would've won 3-4 Prem matches with potentially a little run in the cups that no-one else cares about, and then shuffled him on gracefully when they had their chosen superstar coach in place, with a "Thanks for being the caretaker, now goodbye".

Now, with Dickens in charge of Diamond's squad, I'm not convinced they'll win a Prem game at all. That's gotta be worse for the brand than having Diamond being a dick every now and again before being let go.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Yes. I think the squad is worse.

I’d agree that continually losing whilst looking poorly coached and poorly motivated is more damaging for Redbull’s brand than the potential risk PR risk associated with Diamond. I’d say he’d have been savvy enough to be on best behaviour given one of his major gripes was financial disparity which is no longer a problem.

The only real angle for Newcastle is a phoenix type of tale. This season will likely be a car crash but it’s still an exciting project that will likely attract good players and coaches.

[FKAS]

Losing Radwan, Blamire and Chick were three big blows. McGuigan and Mafi weren't bad experienced cover options to paper over those cracks until next summer though. This season was always going to be a tough season for Newcastle with the investment confirmed too late for proper recruitment.

Unfortunately they really have shat the bed with removing Diamond so quickly. I can see them having three or four different head coaches this season.

[Scrumhead]

McGuigan and Mafi are decent replacements for Blamire and Chick and Christie will add something when he arrives. Wade should also be a good Radwan replacement.

The trouble is, 3/4 of those are short term stop gap signings at the end of their careers replacing guys who were in their mid 20s. As @FKAS says - papering over the cracks.