Saints v Sale 20th december 2025 - Teams Up

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:12:24:11:13:41 by Saint Ted.

I assume that Tommy Freeman on the bench is managing minutes, or maybe to give some second half time in the centre.

So Hutch rested as not down as unavailable? Did I read he came off with a knock v Bulls?

Both Saints and Sale missing some backs from the starting team but Sale probably more negatively affected as we have Freeman and Sleights on the bench. No Opoko-Fordjour nor Ben Curry who are losses to Sale.

Should be a hugely physical game.

Will the Captain Quins transfer rumours be a distraction to how Saints perform. Hopefully not.

Quote:

Saint Maul
So Hutch rested as not down as unavailable? Did I read he came off with a knock v Bulls?
Both Saints and Sale missing some backs from the starting team but Sale probably more negatively affected as we have Freeman and Sleights on the bench. No Opoko-Fordjour nor Ben Curry who are losses to Sale.

Should be a hugely physical game.

Will the Captain Quins transfer rumours be a distraction to how Saints perform. Hopefully not.

Hutch went for blood i believe, but came back and finished the game so it might be a case of rest /letting it fully heal without pushing it. Hutch is up there for the most minutes played too, with Chick, who's just had a week off, and Todaro who's just had 2 (albeit enforced). Coles is up there too so i woudln't be suprised to see him miss one of the next two

Great looking Saints team. Very strong and capable with an exciting bench too. Looking forward to it.

Is that the strongest bench we have ever put out?

Didn't Hutch go down with a painful looking leg injury against the Bulls?

Hutch has had 11 match involvements between Saints and Scotland over the last 13 weeks so is due a break especially if he took a knock last week

What do the bookies say ?

2/9 Saints; 10/3 sale
Handicap 13

Tom Vickers on X
“Rory Hutchinson rested after suffering a leg injury last weekend. ”
[x.com]

The surprising omission from the 23 for me is again Tony 🇫🇷!

Quote:

tigersimon
The surprising omission from the 23 for me is again Tony 🇫🇷!

Is Tony the new Tom Collins? A good player who the fans broadly want to see more of, but not played all that much because of a lack of versatility / the insane current depth in those positions?

Surely 🇫🇷 Tony adds more versatility than Sleights especially with Tommy on the bench as well!

Hutch needed stitches in his leg so probably a good chance to rest up. Yes, our bench is impressive and certainly appears stronger than the Sale one. Hoping the bookies have this one right and we go into the holidays with a 5pt W.

Great squad with a lot of firepower to come off the bench. The ommission of Tony B, who isnt listed as unavailable (and hasn't been for a couple of weeks) seems interesting. If Furbs is off he would be a great player to keep hold of. But he will want to play more....

On another note, thought the crowd was very flat in the first half last week and better, but still sub par, in the second. Hope we are louder tomorrow. COYS

Carpenter, Roebuck, Ford, RMW, Rodd, AOF are all on the Injured list for Sale and assume Ben Curry has joined them.

Quote:

tigersimon
Surely 🇫🇷 Tony adds more versatility than Sleights especially with Tommy on the bench as well!

Is looking increasingly like the coaches don't see Tony as anything other than a 10, he's not played centre at all. Against tigers he came on fullback after they chose shifting Freemo to FB with Litchfield on the wing as more preferable to Tony at FB. In his only other bench game he came in for a forward due to injury. They've picked literally every center in the squad over him at center too

Solid team, nicely battle hardened from Europe for this one. I’ve got a feeling Tony B has upset one of the coaches!

Quote:

St.Sinner
Solid team, nicely battle hardened from Europe for this one. I’ve got a feeling Tony B has upset one of the coaches!

Or maybe it's just that Dowson doesn't like a 10 on the bench, it's never been regular, Fin missed the bench a few times when Biggar was around from memory. Grayson left because he wasn't getting time, although it didn't help he wasn't very good, and now Tony isn't getting picked either.

For this game it's either Tony or Sleights on the bench. No one in the starting 15 covers the wing, Furbs covers 10 so it could just be that simple . Freeman is probably having his minutes managed so they won't want him to come in if there's an early injury

Starting Thame at 13 is a big complement to him when Freeman could have started there with Tony on the bench. Todaro covers 13 as well

Is this game available to watch live? I see TNT are showing the Quins v Bears ladies match.

TNT sports 6 ....channel451

Really pleasing that we didn’t allow Sale to get a bonus point and our defence was so much better than just a few short seasons ago. At times in attack we looked like a hot knife cutting through butter. We briefly switched off in the second half but what was also pleasing was we re-grouped and upped our intensity. So we are slowly building into more complete and rounded performances.

What an individual virtuoso try from Kemeny. Fingers crossed he chooses to stay.

The only worry was Fischetti limping heavily off, particularly given West is also out. Can Teeny also cover loosehead or is he only a tighthead?

Furbank was full on and I can’t remember him making one mistake which is huge credit to him given all the transfer talk to stay that focused. Hendy did some really beautiful things marred by some ugly errors. He has so many attributes but he needs to cut out the basic errors if he wants to become an international. Langdon’s going to have a fight on his hands fo the starting jersey v Wright who has really taken a step up this season.

Thanks, but it doesn’t seem to work on Virgin.
I listened on BBC Northants instead.

Yes, agree re Wright and Smith - very happy with that combo and I really feel Wright's ceiling is very high.

Fair play to Arron Reed - how can a player go down clutching his head, twice and receiving lengthy treatment on the second occasion, for head contact yet not require an HIA?

Quote:

Push Over
TNT sports 6 ....channel451

Thanks for the info. But not available on Sky Glass.

I thought Furbs was immense today. All court game that we can’t replace. Hope we can rummage down the sofa and keep him. Radio Nton saying his departure is not a done deal yet.

Quote:

Toulousian Firefighter
Yes, agree re Wright and Smith - very happy with that combo and I really feel Wright's ceiling is very high.
Fair play to Arron Reed - how can a player go down clutching his head, twice and receiving lengthy treatment on the second occasion, for head contact yet not require an HIA?

Wright has always been highly rated, so this is not a suprise

Reed did a footballer dive, holding head when it was not touched. For me Craig Wright was MOM for me. Good in the scrum, good lineout and very good in loose.

The memory cells clicked in when Sale started to get on top
Thankfully no repeat and the guys rallied to come through

Some great tries
Kemeny was a bit special
Though I’m sure Pearson will say his was harder to score

Overall brilliant when we are clicking
Just need to get that killer touch and not let teams back into the game

Quote:

Bucksaint
I thought Furbs was immense today. All court game that we can’t replace. Hope we can rummage down the sofa and keep him. Radio Nton saying his departure is not a done deal yet.

He may be watching the Quins-Bristol game over on ITV4 and hoping indeed that it's not yet a done deal!

Quote:

Saint Maul
Really pleasing that we didn’t allow Sale to get a bonus point and our defence was so much better than just a few short seasons ago. At times in attack we looked like a hot knife cutting through butter. We briefly switched off in the second half but what was also pleasing was we re-grouped and upped our intensity. So we are slowly building into more complete and rounded performances.
What an individual virtuoso try from Kemeny. Fingers crossed he chooses to stay.

The only worry was Fischetti limping heavily off, particularly given West is also out. Can Teeny also cover loosehead or is he only a tighthead?

Furbank was full on and I can’t remember him making one mistake which is huge credit to him given all the transfer talk to stay that focused. Hendy did some really beautiful things marred by some ugly errors. He has so many attributes but he needs to cut out the basic errors if he wants to become an international. Langdon’s going to have a fight on his hands fo the starting jersey v Wright who has really taken a step up this season.

Hendy's step to leave O'Flattery on the floor and go on to score was special. My best moment of the afternoon.

Perhaps Furbs will go for an enhanced one year deal if he’s confident about his fitness

Furbs will be the highest paid championship player if he’s not careful!
I thought our back row were immense today and all scored special tries. Well done guys, keep it up!

At times we were thrilling to watch today and Sale had no answer. They were desperately poor at times but it could very well be us making them look bad.

What I’m most impressed with this season is how we react when we go off the boil a bit. We have a very reliable foundation of a strong lineout, good scrum, decent defence and runners who make hard yards. For all the fantastic rugby, we play, this for me is the main reason we’re where we are in the league.

Craig wright is becoming a very very good hooker. When langdon is back he will no longer be automatic first choice . Its going to be a close call between those 2 from now on.

Quote:

Buzzer
Thanks, but it doesn’t seem to work on Virgin.
I listened on BBC Northants instead.

It worked for me - red button from TNT1 and there it was.

Buzzer details can be found here,
[www.rugbynetwork.net]

Quote:

Saint dolph
Craig wright is becoming a very very good hooker. When langdon is back he will no longer be automatic first choice . Its going to be a close call between those 2 from now on.

He's always been outstanding imho. From u20 level I thought he'd break through before Pollock, but I can't always be right!

Quote:

Santiago

Quote:

Saint dolph
Craig wright is becoming a very very good hooker. When langdon is back he will no longer be automatic first choice . Its going to be a close call between those 2 from now on.

He's always been outstanding imho. From u20 level I thought he'd break through before Pollock, but I can't always be right!

He was very quick, now he seems to have hardened and added a nuggety quality.

Wright has certainly bulked up.