Tag Archives: Sale Sharks

Big Richie Sets Sale

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It has been confirmed today that Scotland and Glasgow lock Richie Gray will move south next year to take up duties with Premiership side Sale Sharks.  The new poster boy of Scottish rugby has quickly risen to be a key player for both Scotland and Glasgow over the last 18 months and it is probably no surprise that he has chosen to continue his career south of the border. Hopefully Richie will be able to continue his development in the week in, week out dogfight that is the English top flight which can only benefit the national team in the long run.  Whilst Glasgow will undoubtedly miss his whole-hearted, hard-hitting displays it will create an opportunity for someone else to step into his (what must be!) huge shoes – hopefully a young Scot!

Surprising though is the timing of the announcement, given the Heineken Cup and the need to be one big happy family in the coming weeks. Sale could be forgiven for their excitement though, as for them it is a major signing of one of rugby’s fast rising stars and he should slot into the squad alongside old Glasgow mucker Richie Vernon and fellow Scots Ali Dickinson and Fraser Mackenzie. Who would you cheer for in a Sale vs Gloucester match now?

Powell Signs For Sale

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Troubled Wales Number 8 and lover of medieval facial hair Andy Powell was announced as Sale Shark’s new signing, after a raft of players and staff were cut from the club last week. Good move for Sale, assuming Powelly finds somewhere safe in the North to hole up away from football fans and golf courses, and then finds the rampaging form that first brought him to notice.

Team News for the Weekend:

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IN:
Ben Cairns – Edinburgh – will he combine with De Luca on his return and revitalise Edinburgh’s cutting edge?
Dan “Parko” Parks – Glasgow – will he return Glasgow’s cutting edge or boot everything in sight?
Thom Evans – Glasgow – back from plastic surgery (well, he was in a boy band) to show us if his zip and zest belong in a Scotland shirt. Malkovich look out.
Richie Vernon – Glasgow – young back rower gets his first start of the season. Against Toulose.
Rob Deweytime – Ulster – into the squad vs Quins on Saturday but no guarantee his time in the wilderness is over.

OUT:
Hugo Southwell – Edinburgh – drops right out of the 22
Matt Mutschin – Edinburgh – pays the price for his stupid trip on Kearney and ensuing Yellow Card
Kelly Brown – Glasgow – possibly also paying for indiscipline last weekend
Nikki Walker – Ospreys – out for 3 weeks with a hand injury

SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT:
Phil Godman – Edinburgh – hopes to celebrate his 100th appearance for Edinburgh with a victory at Castres
Dan Biggar – Ospreys – with a name like that he should be playing for Scotland. Rumour has it he had a grandfather in the right place.
Rory Lamont – Sale – continues his run at full-back
Jason White – Sale – still on the bench
Tom Smith & Euan Murray – Northampton – still cooking up a storm in the front row
Sean Lamont – Northampton – finding his way back into form with a try last weekend
Rory & Scott Lawson, The big Stroker and Dicko – Gloucester – all exactly where they were last week as Dean Ryan names an unchanged team.

Glasgow vs Toulose – Sky Sports, Friday night 8pm
Harlequins vs Ulster – Sky Sports, Saturday 3pm
Castres vs Edinburgh – Sky Sports (red button) Saturday 5.30pm
Northampton vs Montpellier – Sky Sports Saturday 7.30pm
Sale vs Munster – Sky Sports Sunday 1pm
Cardiff vs Gloucester – Sky Sports, BBC Radio Wales Sunday 3pm

Scottish Rugby Blog is Back

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Kicking down the door and shouting “Sucka” (while no-one really gets hurt) like the Mr-T of sports journalism that we are, I bid you welcome to a new season of rugger-based ramblings. Oh, wait, the season hasn’t started yet. Still, there is some stuff to report, namely that two of Scotland’s favourite sons went head to head the other night in a pre-season friendly between Sale Sharks and Perpignan. Chris Cusiter started at 9 and may or may not have played the whole game – they’re not exactly reporting the hell out of this one – while Rory Knee-Face Lamont (Batman’s new nemesis) seems to have sparked a bit of a second half fightback, scoring two tries to leave the final score a tie at 24-24. The good news is he was playing at 15, hopefully a position that Saint-Andre will give him a run at this season. Otherwise he may end up marking his brother…

Glasgow seem to have beaten Castres in a pre-season friendly, without most of their top players and trialling some of the ELVs. New signing Mark McMillan hopefully gave an indication of things to come with a late try to seal the win, whilst Colin Gregor illustrated his versatility by kicking most of his goals. Here at SRBlog Towers, we’re almost as happy to see McMillan at Glasgow as teammate Dan Parks:

Mark Mcmillan and Dan Parks

Welcome back to Scottish Rugby Blog. Come in, the water’s lovely.