Sale Sharks v Ulster Rugby | Matchday Programme

CHEERS TO ALL FANS

WELCOME FROM EPCR

A WARM WELCOME TO THIS ROUND 1 MATCH IN THE 2022/23 HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP IN WHAT IS AN HISTORIC 28TH SEASON AS THE LEADING SOUTH AFRICAN CLUBS MAKE THEIR MARK IN OUR WORLDCLASS TOURNAMENT.

The quality and tradition of the DHL Stormers, Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks will add a new layer of interest as the Heineken Champions Cup extends its global reach and attracts new fans.

For this groundbreaking season, the 24-club format with two pools of 12 has been retained. The four pool stage rounds will be followed by four knockout stage rounds guaranteeing a series of compelling contests which will culminate in the 2023 final at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 20 May. In addition, two clubs from each pool will qualify for the Round of 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

We are delighted to be joined on the journey to Dublin by our long-standing title partner, Heineken, by our official partners, DHL, IHG and Tissot, by our official supporters, Gilbert and Kappa, and also by our official airline partner in South Africa, Qatar Airways.

BT Sport, beIN SPORTS and France Télévisions, who have all renewed their agreements for the new broadcast cycle, will continue to provide superb coverage, and we welcome SuperSport in South Africa, ITV and RTÉ in the UK and

Ireland, and FloRugby in the USA, who in addition to S4C in Wales, will showcase the tournament to even more viewers.

On a more sombre note, everyone at EPCR was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of our former Chairman and Board member, Paul McNaughton. Paul was a hugely talented all-round sportsman in his heyday and more recently, he proved himself to be equally accomplished as an administrator. He will be sorely missed and we re-extend our condolences to his family and friends.

We hope that you enjoy the match and best wishes to you, the fans, as well as to your club’s players and staff for what promises to be another memorable Heineken Champions Cup season.

Yours in rugby, Dominic McKay EPCR CHAIRMAN

WELCOME

FROM HEINEKEN

I WOULD LIKE TO EXTEND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO EVERYONE AS WE COMMENCE THE 2022/23 HEINEKEN® CHAMPIONS CUP.

Rugby in the UK is known for bringing people together to enjoy the incredible atmosphere and topclass sporting performances, and so it is with the memory of some truly unforgettable encounters that we excitedly mark the 27th year of our partnership with EPCR.

I would also like to commemorate another momentous anniversary, as this month Edinburgh Rugby celebrate 150 years of representative rugby and a proud sporting history. Cheers to them, and the very best of

luck today to all the players, officials and supporters of these fine teams.

We at Heineken® are immensely proud to be sponsor of Europe’s leading club rugby competition, a tournament that means so much to rugby fans across the UK and beyond. Enjoy the game today with a cold, refreshing Heineken® or Heineken® 0.0% and as always, please do so responsibly.

Boudewijn Haarsma MANAGING DIRECTOR HEINEKEN UK

ALEX SANDERSONDIRECTOR OF RUGBY

A WORD FROM THE AXE

Can I extend a big welcome too, to Dan McFarland and all the players, staff and supporters from Ulster. This is the very best club competition in the world – each game is an international fixture without the anthem – and everyone at Sale Sharks is absolutely buzzing and looking forward to getting started against a really strong team.

We’ve had a week without a game and a couple of injuries aside, we’re in fine fettle but we’ll need to be against Dan’s team. They had a tough game against Leinster last week and I have no doubt they’ll want to bounce back with a big performance against us today. We’ve planned for them to be at their very best and we’ll need to be at our best if we’re going to get our Champions Cup campaign started with a win.

I do feel like we’re in a really good place at the moment on and off the pitch. As a coaching group we feel like we’ve managed the lads’ loading really well and everyone is fresh and ready to attack a big part

of the season. Obviously, we had a lot of lads away with England in the autumn – and Ewan Ashman away with Scotland – but everyone has come back fit and ready and that week off has given them a chance to refresh mentally and physically after a tough few weeks.

Physically and mentally I don’t know if this team has been in a better place going into the start of a new Champions Cup campaign. Obviously, a big part of playing in Europe is about your form and the form of your opposition and some of it, in my experience, is about trying to stay under the radar. I don’t think we’re under the radar anymore and I think our form in this competition in the last two years and in the Premiership this year means there’s a target on our back.

At some stage we have to embrace that, be proud of what we’re doing and enjoy the pressure that comes with expectation.

We’re the most successful English

WELCOME TO A VERY CHILLY AJ BELL STADIUM FOR THE FIRST HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP FIXTURE OF THE SEASON.

club in the Champions Cup over the last couple of years and the experiences we’ve had, particularly in quarter-finals against Racing last year and La Rochelle the year before, have given us all the taste for it. You want to chase a feeling of what it means to compete against the best teams in the best stadiums. That’s fantastic, and that drives us all on. But more than that, we’ve got a feeling of unfulfilled potential for this group of players. We want to push on and increase the intensity and standards we’ve been hitting.

Having said all of that, I promise you we’re not thinking about semifinals or quarter-finals or anything like that at the moment. We’ve got enough to worry about with the visit of Ulster and then a really tough trip to Toulouse. You could say the draw hasn’t been too kind to us, but these are the challenges we want. We want to go up against the very best.

Our opponents today, Ulster, have been in really good form and we know exactly how good they are. As I said,

they had a tough day against Leinster and we’d probably rather they came into today’s game cock-a-hoop, but I think they’re smart enough and they do enough analysis to know that they’ve got to step it up as well because we’re a good team.

There’s been a lot of talk about the introduction of the South African sides into the competition this year and I’m sure that’ll raise the standard of the competition. But to be honest, this was already the very best club competition.

We were showing the lads some videos the other day to get them hyped up for Europe and I went home afterwards and couldn’t sleep. I was up all night because I was so excited. That’s what this competition does. It’s brilliant and I can’t wait to get going today.

Enjoy the game, Al

THE HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP EXPLAINED

THE HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP IS BACK AT THE AJ BELL STADIUM, SO TO GET YOU IN THE MOOD FOR THE RETURN OF EUROPE’S PREMIER CLUB COMPETITION, HERE’S OUR HANDY GUIDE TO THE FORMAT, HOW IT ALL WORKS, AND WHO YOUR SHARKS WILL BE FACING.

The 2022/23 Champions Cup will be competed for by 24 clubs with eight from the United Rugby Championship (URC) – including first appearances by the Stormers, Bulls and Sharks – as well as eight from the Gallagher Premiership and eight from the TOP 14.

The 24 clubs were separated into four tiers based on their rankings, and then drawn into two pools – Pool A and Pool B – with clubs from the same league in the same tier not drawn into the same pool.

Still with us!?

Good. The Tier 1 and the Tier 4 clubs in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, play one another home and away during the pool stage, as do the Tier 2 and Tier 3 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league.

The tournament will be played over eight weekends with the four rounds of matches in the

pool stage starting next week (Saturday, December 10) when La Rochelle begin the defence of their title.

The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the showpiece final at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on May 20, 2023.

2022/23 HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP QUALIFIERS

TOP 14: Castres Olympique, Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Stade Toulousain, Stade Rochelais, Racing 92, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Lyon

Gallagher Premiership: Leicester Tigers, Saracens, Harlequins, Northampton Saints, Gloucester Rugby, Sale Sharks, Exeter Chiefs, London Irish

United Rugby Championship: Stormers, Bulls, Leinster Rugby, Ulster Rugby, Sharks, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby, Ospreys

2022/23 KEY DATES:

Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022

Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022 Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023 Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023

Round of 16 – 1/2 April 2023

Quarter-finals – 7/8/9 April 2023 Semi-finals – 28/29/30 April 2023

Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday 20 May 2023; Aviva Stadium, Dublin

ULSTER RUGBY

TUNNEL VISION

AHEAD OF KICK-OFF, WE’VE TAKEN A DETAILED LOOK AT OUR OPPONENTS ULSTER AND COMPILED ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED KNOW BEFORE WE TAKE ON THE IRISH GIANTS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR CLUB’S HISTORY.

HISTORY IN THE HCC

Ulster lifted EPCR’s biggest prize in 1999 after a 21-6 final victory over Colomiers in Dublin, Simon Mason kicking all the Irish province’s points from six penalties.

They have reached the final on one other occasion, losing to 42-14 to domestic rivals Leinster Rugby at Twickenham in 2012.

LAST SEASON

Ulster progressed from the Heineken Champions Cup pool stage with ease, winning all four of their matches, with two wins apiece over ASM Clermont Auvergne and Northampton Saints.

However, the Irish province failed to make it further than the Round of 16, agonisingly losing 50-49 to Stade Toulousain over two legs.

HEAD COACH

Dan McFarland is the head coach of Ulster, a role he has been in since 2018. As a player, McFarland was a prop and had stints with Stade Français Paris and Connacht Rugby, where he joined the coaching set-up upon retiring in 2006.

He coached Emerging Ireland and Ireland Wolfhounds before becoming an assistant coach at Glasgow Warriors in 2015, holding the same role with Scotland for a season ahead of taking over at Ulster.

KEY PLAYERS

There is a strong presence of Ireland internationals in the Ulster set-up. Amongst the forwards is hooker Rob Herring, who has been a regular at Ulster since joining a decade ago, and lock Iain Henderson, the club captain. The dynamic Nick Timoney can play across the back row.

Wing Robert Baloucoune scored a hat-trick of tires in the first leg of Ulster’s Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 tie with Toulouse last season and will be a key figure once again for the Irish province. Wing Jacob Stockdale is another try threat, as is centre Stuart McCloskey.

Meanwhile, electric full-back Michael Lowry made his first appearance for Ireland this year, and also earnt a nomination for EPCR’s European Player of the

Year award, finishing the 202122 Heineken Champions Cup with three tries.

South African international Duane Vermeulen joined the club last season and is a huge presence at No.8 while new signing Rory Sutherland, a Scottish international, offers further reinforcement at prop.make it further than the Round of 16, agonisingly losing 50-49 to Stade Toulousain over two legs.

JOE SIMPSON

SIMMO HANGS UP

Making just one appearance in the English Premiership is an achievement many rugby fans and players could only dream of. Of those who are lucky enough to debut, only a select few of the most talented and dedicated players will play long enough at the highest level to earn 100 Premiership appearances.

Even fewer make it to a double century. Above that sits a select group of the league’s very best. Players like our very own Joe Simpson.

Since making his Wasps debut at a rainy Stoop in 2008, Joe has gone on to make almost 350 club appearances for five of England’s biggest clubs in Wasps, Gloucester, Saracens, Bath and Sale.

Throw in an England cap at the 2011 World Cup and it’s easy to see why the 34-year-old is held in such high esteem by teammates, coaches and fans alike.

Now he’s decided to hang up his boots at the end of 2022, but not before taking a trip down memory lane.

He said , “My debut was on a cold rainy night at The Stoop against Harlequins. We were going through a bit of a shaky run so I got the opportunity to play,

and I just remember being a bit of a headless chicken.

“I was just getting the ball and running as fast as I could, I managed to get a try, but we lost. That moment has stuck with me for some time, and I am sure it will stick with me for many more years to come.

“It was a fantastic time to join Wasps, we were the reigning English champions and the European champions the year before that. We were on a run of a having won seven trophies in six years.

“It was a ridiculous squad, full of internationals, full of legends, full of my idols and heroes. As a fresh faced 18-year-old out of school, training and playing with those legends was eyeopening. Seeing the way they trained and conducted themselves and the ethos they had was incredible, and it was a very fast learning curve.

“I remember being in an ice bath with Lawrence Dallaglio, and I tried to get out and he just put his arm on me and said, ‘not yet’ and I stayed in for what felt like a lifetime because he was a World Cup winner and my hero.

“I used to drive France international Serge Betsen to the games because he only had one car and his wife and kids would come up later. I would be sat there driving with Serge Betsen sat next to me, it was so bizarre.”

Even with this baptism of fire, in a melting pot of international rugby legends, a young Joe was never convinced that he would make it as a professional rugby player. He said: “I had no real ambition to be a rugby player growing up. I was lucky enough to play in two fantastic teams at school

with St Benedict’s and at club with Richmond. I never thought I was the best rugby player, and I didn’t know rugby was a career opportunity. It became a possibility at 17 when I was offered a professional contract and it became apparent that I could be a professional rugby player and things started kicking on and I ran with it.

“The biggest things I will take away from rugby are the bonds I have made with people. The world of rugby is a very special place, you put your body on the line and you make sacrifices, and it creates a thicker, deeper bond than you can make anywhere else. Through adversity, pain, suffering, sacrifice you become very close.

“I have been lucky to play all over the world; in Toulon, in Toulouse, at night in packed out stadiums, that is when you realise how far

you have come. I have played in a Premiership final with Wasps. That was probably the closest team I have played in, that was my team. Being out there on the pitch and you look around and see your closest friends, that is very special.

“I am also enormously proud of my England appearance. I think I actually took it for granted at the time, I didn’t fully appreciate how big it was. Everything came quickly to me and it took time to take a step back and realise what I had achieved. To be in that England squad with Jonny Wilkinson and coached by Martin Johnson was a phenomenal achievement and I wish we could have gone further. I still get goosebumps now remembering that I have played for England. It’s my proudest achievement of my career.

A road which started at Richmond and went via Wycombe, Dunedin, Gloucester, Barnet and Bath, has eventually ended in Manchester, and Joe says he’s loved seeing out the

last moments of his career at Sale Sharks.

He said: “I have come in at a different stage of my career. It is a young team that is building and striving for success. But everyone has been so welcoming.

“Al has been guiding the ship expertly and I feel very privileged to have played for him.

“He understands where I am in my life and has given me the extra time when I have needed it to get home and help my family. It has also been a fitting end to come full circle and play with some of my closest friends in Simon McIntyre and Tommy Taylor, who I played with in the Premiership final at Wasps.

“The thing I will miss most about rugby is the day-to-day, coming in sore and tired when it’s cold or raining. The boys get around each other and you get through it together. That team atmosphere and friendship is hard to replace, and I will sorely miss it. That gap will forever be a part of my life.”

FROM THE SHARK TANK

OUR WEEKLY GUEST SPOT FROM THE PODCASTING SUPERFANS OVER AT THE SHARK TANK, THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE OF RUGBY PODCASTING, WITH A DETAILED, IRREVERENT AND OCCASSIONALLY CYNICAL LOOK AT ALL THINGS SALE SHARKS.

European rugby is back at the AJ Bell! With Sale flying high in the Premiership, this competition offers us the chance now to test ourselves against the best on the continent. While the spectre of 2021 champions Toulouse looms for next weekend, our attention today is firmly focused on a historic meeting with Ulster Rugby.

While Sale had a rest week last week after the Wasps fixture was cancelled, there’s still momentum in the squad after an incredibly important win over Bristol two weeks ago which maintained our spot in 2nd in the domestic table. It was a gritty performance characterised by exceptional defence yet again, aided by power upfront and some crucial attacking touches - Jean-Luc’s touch on for Rob’s try being a particular highlight for us. While it was still a bit too close for comfort (isn’t it always!) it shows a great team spirit and determination to grind out results no matter what the scenario. It is becoming rarer and rarer that Sale walk away from games with a close loss in a game we should have won. Though if it happens in the next few games, don’t blame us…

We’ll hope that a close loss isn’t the case today, but we’re certainly expecting a close game against an Ulster side with plenty of talent and a rolling maul which will be a huge threat to us. South African international Duane Vermuelen is the obvious name to watch out for, but there’s a wealth of other great talent including Jacob Stockdale, Stuart McCloskey, John Cooney and British and Irish Lion Iain Henderson who will

cause Sale real problems if fit. Not that Sale will shy away from that however - to be able to test ourselves against some of the best players in Europe and the world is exactly what we want from this competition. As we mentioned, with Toulouse to come away from home, a win is all important to put ourselves in contention for the knockout stages in the competition.

We also of course welcome back a Sale old boy in Will Addison –while he may not be playing at the moment due to injury it will be great to see him back at the AJ Bell and we’ll hope to see him back on the field soon tearing it up as we know he can (just not against us!).

There’s a general feel-good air around the entire Sale family at the moment too, with Sale Sharks Women having won 3 out of 3 games this season including a huge win at home to Loughborough last week. This game is just another chance to continue to build that feel good atmosphere in club rugby’s biggest competition.

After a quarter final last year and having played some of the biggest names in the competition we have some knockout pedigree, so with the TV cameras watching let’s shout loud and proud and start to create some more great European memories!

Enjoy the game!

Alex,

James and Lewis

TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST, CLICK HERE:

MOMENTUM IS KEY AFTER SHARKS PERFECT START

Overseeing that stunning start has been former Wales international and National Skills Coach, Rachel Taylor, who joined the club as the Women’s Performance Coach ahead of last season.

Sharks Women’s third win of the season came on Saturday at the CorpAq Stadium when tries from Scarlett Fielding and Georgie Perris-Redding helped secure a 15-14 win over a strong Loughborough Lightning team.

Sharks fell behind after just seven seconds when former Sale player Daisy HibbertJones collected the kick off and crossed the whitewash. But Rachel says that win against one of the league’s leading sides shows the importance of resilience, momentum and belief.

She said: “We talked about momentum in the lead up and how important that could be, but the effort and the energy levels that

the team put in were immense.

“If you were there or watching the stream you would have seen from the body language how important it was for them to get the win.

SALE SHARKS WOMEN HAVE STARTED THEIR THIRD PREMIER 15S CAMPAIGN IN EXCELLENT FORM WITH THREE WINS FROM THEIR FIRST THREE GAMES, LEAVING THEM SECOND IN THE TABLE.

“I had just given a talk about how important a good start is because we went down early against Worcester as well and came back at half-time and it just about putting it down to an error and knowing we can get back in the game.

“As far as starts go that is about as bad as it gets, if it is not a world record, I would be surprised.

“One of the most pleasing signs is how we were able to work our way back up the field and it has taken effort and graft, but the players wanted to strike back as fast as we can and staying in that arm wrestle this season is going to be so important for us.

“Resilience is a real signature of this team, maybe it is a northern thing. In seasons before it would have been tough but now that we have that experience of knowing that we can do it, we have more belief in ourselves.”

Sale face a tough stretch of fixtures with Harlequins, Saracens, Exeter Chiefs and Bristol Bears the next four games in the league. And despite making such a good start Rachel emphasised how important it is for the team to stay grounded

She said: “We have got to take the opportunities when they come and we have, and everyone has worked really hard.

“Now it is just about trying to bed in things to work on so we can really go for the targeted games we have got.

“It is a tough build-up to

Christmas with Quins and Sarries back-to-back, but a lot of pressure is off us in terms of where we wanted to be and what we wanted to achieve before Christmas.

“We have definitely upped the ante and put a target on our backs but we want that and we want to see where we are in comparison to these top four teams. We need to jump on this momentum and enjoy it because momentum brings confidence. But we won’t get carried away because we know how hard this league is.

“The level of competition in training is really high, everyone is bouncing to get in the team which will benefit our performance in the end.”

USA international flanker Georgie Perris-Redding scored the game-winning try with 15 minutes to go, a try which her coach Rachel Taylor said encapsulated her effort and personality.

She added: “She is a huge character on and off the field, and that try summed up everything about her, her determination to get back, her speed over the ball, things that she is world-renowned for. Then the speed and turn of pace she has is pretty scary in terms of back row ability.”

Written by: Ben Nurse

T A L

T

As a multi-brand, multinational recruitment company, Morson Group has been connecting people with businesses to fuel global innovation for over 50 years.

We take our responsibility to sustain and develop the future of the working world very seriously Together with our clients, partner organisations and communities we ' re upskilling, reskilling, training, nurturing and inspiring the workforces of today, tomorrow and the future P

L A C I N G P E O P L E F I R S T ; F O R T O D A Y , T O M O R R O W & T H E F U T U R E

We’re available to discuss talent challenges, advise on the recruitment landscape or just simply, listen. Scan to book a coffee and chat with one of our talent experts.

E N T F O R T O D A Y ,

O M O R R O W & T H E F U T U R E

YOUR SHARKS

FORWARDS

GEORGE ARNOLD

ROUBAN BIRCH

BEN BAMBER

EWAN ASHMAN

ETHAN CAINE

JOSH BEAUMONT

DOM BARROW

BEN CARLILE

PATREECE BELL

ELLIS CAUSEY

HUW DAVIES

JAMES HARPER

SAM DUGDALE

BEN CURRY

DAN DU PREEZ

ROSS HARRISON

CAL FORD

TOM CURRY

JEAN-LUC DU PREEZ

JONNY HILL

ALEX GROVES

JOE JONES

YANDE NKONGE

JONO ROSS

MATT POSTLETHWAITE

SIMON MCINTYRE

TUMY ONASANYA

NICK SCHONERT

WILL RILEY

EWAN MURPHY

COENIE OOSTHUIZEN

TOMMY TAYLOR

BEVAN RODD

BACKS

HARRY THOMPSON

TRISTAN WOODMAN

CONNOR DOHERTY

JOE CARPENTER

AKKER VAN DER MERWE

ROB DU PREEZ

WILL CLIFF

COBUS WIESE

JOE BEDLOW

GEORGE FORD

TOM CURTIS

ELLIOT GOURLAY

SAM JAMES

ARRON REED

TOM O’FLAHERTY

SAM HILL

BYRON MCGUIGAN

TOM ROEBUCK

AARON POPE

LUKE JAMES

BEN MOTAMED

JOE SIMPSON

RAFFI QUIRKE

NYE THOMAS

CHARLIE WARDLE

MANU TULAGI

KIERAN WILKINSON

GUS WARR

JASON WOODWARD

CHEERS TO ALL FANS