Sale Sharks fans salivating at stacked backrow options

Sale Sharks’ busy summer continued today as they secured one of their biggest deals to date with the loan of Mark Wilson from Newcastle Falcons.

With Newcastle relegated from the Premiership last season, the England international will move south to Sale, with the aim to obviously return to Kingston Park if his parent club were to bounce back up.
In the meantime, Sale are set to benefit from one of the best flankers in England, to go alongside a back-row that fans are marveling over on social media.

Wilson will arrive at Sale after his World Cup duties are over with England, but will be part of a back-row comprising of fellow loan signings Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez, who have signed from South Africa’s Sharks, Ben and Tom Curry, Josh Strauss and captain Jono Ross.

That means Sale will have both England’s openside and blindside flankers playing for them in Curry and Wilson, with a wealth of options behind them should they be absent.

This is a staggering back-row, both in terms of depth and quality, and it is no wonder that some fans on Twitter are labeling this the best back-row in England. It has pace and power, and can take both the Premiership and the Champions Cup by storm next season.

This is what has been said:

https://twitter.com/Manco902/status/1146088438925549568?s=20
https://twitter.com/RoyP123/status/1146081928929533952?s=20
https://twitter.com/richardhiggsPT/status/1146076075660910592?s=20
https://twitter.com/oldsnotter/status/1146078636874842115?s=20
https://twitter.com/EgertonSport/status/1146075992798179328?s=20
https://twitter.com/RuaraidhB/status/1146072520895934465?s=20

Best back row pool in the Prem? Including Curry twins, Ross and Strauss

— Anthony Murphy (@AJBMurphy) July 2, 2019

In addition to the loose-forwards at the AJ Bell next season, Sale have also signed Springbok trio Coenie Oosthuizen, Akker van der Merwe and Lood de Jager, as they look set to have an overwhelmingly powerful pack.

Steve Diamond would have already been excited about his team’s prospect’s next season, but the arrival of Wilson must leave him giddy. The former Falcon has been one of England’s standout players over the past year, adroitly standing in at number eight for Billy Vunipola in the Autumn, and displaying his tireless workrate at six during the Six Nations.

He seems to be a favourite now of Eddie Jones’, which is no surprise given the number of tackles he gets through a game. His partnership with Curry blossomed over the Six Nations, and the Sharks look set to benefit from it too next season.