Premiership Team of the Week: Sale Sharks pack dominant in crucial win

By Charlie Elliott

The Premiership has finally returned, and Easter weekend has signalled the start of the proper run-in. 

With only four games left and four places up for grabs, every game is a must-win for those chasing the playoffs. 

Harlequins have effectively dropped out of the reckoning with a big defeat against Sale Sharks seemingly having ended their hopes, which shows how close the race really is. 

No one can afford to slip up, as chances are other teams will be able to capitalise. 

Elsewhere, Leicester Tigers put their European woes to one side and delivered a big win against Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, which took them up to second and above their hosts. 

Here is the Team of the Week from a great round of Premiership action. 

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Outside Backs

15- Josh Hodge (Exeter Chiefs) 

Exeter managed to take table toppers Bath all the way and narrowly fell to a 26-24 defeat at Sandy Park. 

Hodge was involved in a lot of the good attacking play that Rob Hunter’s side did throughout the afternoon. 

His best moment came when he ran round the outside of his defender with speed and intent, before unleashing a beautiful pass out wide to Paul Brown-Bampoe, who finished it off very well. 

The fullback also had some good defensive play, including a try-stopping tackle on Tom de Glanville. 

14- Will Glister (Northampton Saints) 

Saints made life very difficult for themselves in the northeast but still came up with a bonus-point victory with a second-string side. 

Despite a Newcastle Falcons fightback, Northampton held onto a 35-24 win at Kingston Park. 

It was a Premiership debut to remember for the 19-year-old, who looked composed well beyond his years out wide for Saints. 

He dealt with plenty of high balls well, something that can’t be said of senior pros sometimes on a Friday night up north and got himself a try. 

While not the best try ever, he capitalised on a mistake and even had the composure to take the ball under the posts. 

One to watch for the future, it seems. 

11- Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers) 

Clinical would be the best word to describe Hassell-Collins’ performance, and both he and Adam Radwan on the wings made the most of their opportunities. 

Radwan was also a contender for this spot, but OHC’s defensive work just about sees him in the team. 

Capitalised very well on a loose pass from Ibitoye to stroll over the line for his only points in the game. 

But he put in some mega hits defensively and was a factor in the fact that the usually fluid Bears attack never really got going.

Centres

13- Kalaveti Ravouvou (Bristol Bears) 

Bristol might have been well beaten by Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate, losing 36-19 in the Easter Sunday kickoff, but this game will be remembered for one thing and one thing only. 

Ravouvou’s absolutely insane offload assist for Gabriel Ibitoye. 

He was tackled before going to ground and passing the ball about 15 metres from behind his back in Harlem Globetrotters style. 

Genuinely one of the best assists of the season. 

Overall, he had a positive performance despite the defeat and attacked with intent, but in truth, that assist alone was enough to get him in this team. 

12- Nick Tompkins (Saracens) 

Saracens put Gloucester to the sword and silenced the travelling away support at the StoneX Stadium, coming out 36-14 winners. 

Tompkins’ try was arguably the one that shifted the momentum in Sarries’ favour, with a moment of magic that came while the game was still close. 

The centre got a clean line break, before shifting past another defender and running about 40 metres in total before diving through another tackle. 

It gave his side the lead for the first time in the game and set them up for a barnstorming second half. 

Halfbacks

10- Fin Smith (Northampton Saints) 

Played much longer than his side would have hoped following an early injury to Charlie Savala, but really showed his class in his nearly 60-minute stint on the pitch. 

Upped the tempo from the outset and got himself a try for his troubles, had this early change not been required, Saints may have been on the losing side of this game. 

Looked to have a knock himself for a portion but played through it, which is commendable but possibly a cause for concern for his team. 

9- Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers) 

There seems to be two types of JVP performance. When he is on TV, he is unplayable. When he isn’t, he is often frustrating to watch.  

Luckily for Tigers fans, their game was shown on the tele and JVP put in a very strong performance. 

He absolutely ran the show with a key part in the first try, finding a gap to break free and setting up Radwan for an easy finish. 

Managed to get one for himself, again finding space when he had to right to, this time from only a few metres out. 

Top class and if he is to maintain a bit more consistency, could seriously be in contention for the England nine shirt. 

Front Row

1- Tom West (Northampton Saints) 

Did his best to make things happen from prop, thundered into contact and generally made a nuisance of himself. 

Got a lot of joy as a physical presence and disrupted Falcons superbly. 

2- Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks) 

The first of a few Sale forwards in this team, after they expertly dispatched of Harlequins at The Stoop and truly cemented themselves as top four contenders with a 43-29 win. 

Despite the windy weather in London, the hooker was impressive from the lineout and maintained consistency from the set-piece. 

LCD was also very strong offensively and got himself on the scoresheet with Sale’s first try of the game. 

Good on both sides of the ball, it was a great showing from the Lions hopeful. 

3- Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) 

What a player Opoku-Fordjour is. One of the biggest forward talents that England has right now and he showed it with a blistering outing against Quins. 

With the ball in hand, he made some serious yards, including one instance where he rode three tackles while gaining 20 metres or so. 

Also got on the scoresheet with a sneaky finish. 

Sharks won three scrum penalties, and a lot of the joy they got came courtesy of the forwards from the set piece, with the young tighthead crucial to it. 

Second Row

4- Maro Itoje (Saracens) 

Just an out-and-out leader, Saracens had the better of Gloucester from the set piece, and Itoje was the man behind it. 

His compulsory time off seemed to pay dividends as he appeared a man who was refreshed and hungry to impress. 

It was summed up by his side’s last try, in which a mistake was forced from the lineout, before Itoje capitalised and offloaded beautifully to Jamie George to finish. 

5- Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks) 

Sheer physicality from Hill, who is fast becoming hard not to consider for England following his return a few months ago from a lengthy ban. 

Hugely disruptive at the lineout and a monster defensively, Hill was another who was key in the Sale dominance that saw them to victory. 

Also got a deserved try for his troubles. 

Back Row

6- Jack Kenningham (Harlequins) 

A rose amongst thorns, Kenningham was the only Quins player who could truly hold his head up high after their poor showing at home to Sale. 

Solid throughout with some good runs and a try to his name, Sale’s attack was repelled as much as it could be by one man. 

The fact that he didn’t disgrace himself in such a weak team performance means that he will still be hoping for an England call-up in the summer. 

7- Tom Curry (Sale Sharks) 

An absolute Rolls-Royce of a flanker. While he is extremely physical, the way in which he does it sometimes seems so controlled in a way that is rarely seen. 

You can tell that everything he does is with intent, and he delivered outstanding work on both sides of the ball. 

Two tries and some great tackling are really all you can ask for from a flanker. 

Key in this Sale side and a brilliant player to watch. 

8- Ernst van Rhyn (Sale Sharks) 

Eight was a tough position to call, but van Rhyn was another Sale player who really impressed with his physicality and power. 

Even if he did play as a flanker. 

Did the basics to a very high level and worked extremely hard throughout, and while Curry will steal the headlines, he was involved in a lot of the hard work behind such a strong win.