Saracens back Olly Hartley against league leaders Sale after impressing in Europe

Saracens have handed 21-year-old centre Olly Hartley his first Gallagher Premiership start since round one after a two-try display against Connacht on Saturday in the Investec Champions Cup.

After coming on from the bench in Saracens’ loss to the Bulls in Pretoria in round one, Hartley replaced Elliot Daly to partner Nick Tompkins in the midfield last weekend at the StoneX Stadium, scoring twice in the 55-36 victory. Director of rugby Mark McCall has gone for the same partnership for their trip to take on league leaders Sale Sharks tomorrow in a repeat of last season’s final.

“Last weekend was a massive step forward so we want to improve on that performance,” the former Wasps centre said.

“This game is a big test but we’re looking at it as another opportunity to get better.

“The experience really helps me. I can do my job and focus on that with so many good players around me who can give me great confidence.”

After lining up against Bundee Aki, arguably the form centre in the world, last week, Hartley will be taking on Manu Tuilagi at the AJ Bell Stadium, so the challenges are coming thick and fast. Then again, at 6′ 4″, Hartley can certainly make his presence felt in the middle of the field as well.

Sale Sharks XV:
15. Joe Carpenter , 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Arron Reed, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr 1. Ross Harrison, 2. Agustin Creevy, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Cobus Wiese 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Jean-Luc du Preez
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Sam James, 23. Sam Bedlow

Saracens XV:
15 Alex Goode, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Alec Clarey, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Theo McFarland, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Andy Christie, 8 Billy Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Tom West, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Tom Parton