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Saracens, Sale name their Gallagher Premiership final teams
By Liam Heagney
Saracens have named their team to take on Sale on Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham, making one surprise change from their May 13 semi-final win over Northampton.
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Mako Vuniopla was the starting loosehead in the 38-15 victory over the Saints at the StoneX, but the England prop has only been chosen on the bench for the final with his starting place going to the promoted Eroni Mawi.
The only other Saracens change is on their bench with Aled Davies, who has recovered from a hamstring issue, restored as their back-up scrum-half at the expense of American Ruben de Haas.
The number of Sale alterations mirrors Saracens, with just one change to their starting pack and a single tweak to their replacements.
With Ben Curry a first-half casualty in the 21-13 semi-final win over Leicester, his place in the starting back row is taken by Sam Dugdale.
Dan du Preez didn’t last long when came off the bench against the Tigers and his spot in the reserves is filled by Tom Ellis.
Saracens skipper Owen Farrell said: “These games are the reason you play and that makes it so exciting. We have worked hard this year and the lads have done a brilliant job to put us in this position, but we want to make sure we finish it off.
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“Last year is in the past. It took us a while to think about how to get the best out of ourselves, but we have made some good steps forward this season and hopefully that is shown on Saturday.”
SARACENS: 15. Alex Goode; 14. Max Malins, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Ivan Van Zyl; 1. Eroni Mawi, 2. Jamie George, Marco Riccioni, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Hugh Tizard, 6. Nick Isiekwe, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Jackson Wray. Reps: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Christian Judge, 19. Callum Hunter-Hill, 20. Toby Knight, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Elliot Daly.
SALE: 15. Joe Carpenter; 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Arron Reed; 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Simon McIntyre, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Tom Curry, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Jono Ross (capt). Reps: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Bevan Rodd, 18. Coenie Oosthuizen, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Tom Ellis, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam James, 23. Tom O’Flaherty.
