Preview: Preview: Sale Sharks vs Bristol Bears - prediction, team news, lineups

Sale Sharks welcome Bristol Bears to the CorpAcq Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the final gameweek of this season's regular Premiership Rugby campaign.

The Sharks threw away a 25-point lead to lose 45-42 away at Newcastle Red Bulls last weekend, while the Bears posted an impressive 21-19 victory against Bath at Ashton Gate.

Match preview

After finishing third and narrowly missing out on a spot in the Premiership final last season, this year has been hugely disappointing for Sale Sharks.

Winning only four matches this campaign, the Sharks find themselves seventh in the league table and an astonishing 29 points behind the Exeter Chiefs who currently occupy the final playoff position.

However, despite a poor recent run of form, losing eight of their previous nine league fixtures, Alex Sanderson’s side still need to win at least a point this weekend in order to confirm their participation in the European Champions Cup next season.

Having won each of their previous two matches against Bristol Bears at the CorpAcq Stadium, Sale will be hoping to end the season on a high and claim only their sixth home victory of the season in all competitions.

© Imago / PPAUK

Despite a brilliant derby victory against a high flying Bath side last weekend, Exeter Chiefs’ win at Welford Road on Sunday means Bristol Bears are unable to finish in the top four spots this season.

After convincing victories against both Newcastle Red Bulls and Gloucester, Pat Lam’s side looked well on their way to securing a playoff place for the fourth time in their eight year Premiership tenure, however heavy defeats to Saracens and Northampton Saints ultimately crushed those aspirations.

Heading into the final weekend, Bristol have already qualified for next season’s Champions Cup but have nothing else to play for, although can leapfrog Saracens into fifth if Mark McCall’s men fall to defeat against Exeter at Sandy Park.

Having won only two of their previous eight matches against Sale, the Bears will be hoping to capitalise on their hosts’ poor form and end the season with a victory.

Sale Sharks Premiership form:

Sale Sharks form (all competitions): 

Bristol Bears Premiership form:

Bristol Bears form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago / Focus Images

Sanderson has made a pair of changes to the forwards that fell short at Kingston Park last weekend as Alfie Longstaff and Reuben Logan make way for Nathan Jibulu and Tom Curry.

Tom O'Flaherty regains his spot on the wing as Tom Roebuck moves to outside-centre, while Raffi Quirke is preferred to Gus Warr at scrum-half.

Pat Lam has named an entirely English matchday squad for Saturday afternoon, including nine players from the Bears' academy setup.

Noah Heward, Harry Randall, James Dun, Joe Owen and Joe Batley are the only players to feature in the 15 that also started against Bath at Ashton Gate last weekend.

Sale Sharks starting lineup:

15 Carpenter, 14 O'Flaherty, 13 Roebuck, 12 Ma'asi-White, 11 Reed, 10 Ford, 9 Quirke; 1 Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Jibulu, 3 Harper, 4 van Rhyn, 5 Bamber, 6 Dugdale, 7 Kelly, 8 Curry

Replacements:

16 Longstaff, 17 McEachran, 18 Bell, 19 Andrews, 20 Logan, 21 Warr, 22 James, 23 Wills

Bristol Bears starting lineup:

15 Lane, 14 Heward, 13 Bates, 12 J. Jenkins, 11 Boshoff, 10 Worsley, 9 Randall; 1 Woolmore, 2 Gwilliam, 3 Lahiff, 4 Dun, 5 Taylor, 6 Owen, 7 Thacker, 8 Batley

Replacements:

16 Hill, 17 Grahamslaw, 18 Chawatama, 19 Halliwell, 20 K.Jenkins, 21 Wolstenholme, 22 Pepper, 23 Harris

We say: Sale Sharks 24-30 Bristol Bears

With Champions Cup rugby on the line and facing a Bears side with nothing to play for, it will be interesting to see whether the Sharks can grind out one final Premiership victory to end what has been a disappointing season on a high note.

While we do not think Sanderson's side will have quite enough, we see them coming away from the match with at least a point and securing a place in the top eight.