Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks - Teams and Prediction

SEMIFINAL PREVIEW: Sale Sharks Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said his players were ready for the challenge ahead against a Leicester Tigers team who came out on top when the sides met in Round 16.

The Tigers will have home comforts in Saturday’s semifinal after they finished ahead of Sale in the standings.

“I’m expecting a big battle,” said Sanderson.

“They prioritise a lot of the things that we do around physicality and set-piece and we know it’s going to be a really tough game in front of a partisan crowd.

“We’ve been talking about how we manage our mentality through the ups and downs of the game.

“At this stage of the season, it’s about being better at the basics and simplifying what we do.

“The gainline battle and the collisions on both sides of the ball are going to be key, as well as the set-piece.

“When we played a few weeks back we got them in the first half but they beat us up in the second. A 60-minute performance this week won’t do – it’s going to have to be 80.

“We’ve earned the privilege of feeling the pressure at this stage of the season. We know there’s nothing after this if we don’t get the job done so we’re ready.”

Tom Roebuck and Tom Curry both return to a powerful Sharks side as Sanderson makes two changes to his team.

The England pair missed out on the final game of the league season with injury but they’re both fit to start at Welford Road as Sale go in search of a win that would secure a second Premiership Final in three years.

Alex has picked an all-England front row for the crunch clash against Michael Cheika’s side, with Luke Cowan-Dickie starting at hooker in between props Bevan Rodd and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.

Jonny Hill starts with Ernst van Rhyn once again in the second row while Tom Curry joins brother – and Sharks skipper – Ben and Jean-Luc du Preez in a combative back row.

England scrumhalf Raffi Quirke and George Ford combine for the second consecutive week at halfback and they’ll have Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and the ever-present Rob du Preez outside them in the centres.

In the back three, Roebuck has overcome a calf strain to start on the right wing with Scotland wing Arron Reed on the left and Joe Carpenter at No.15.

Si McIntyre, Wales prop WillGriff John and Tadgh McElroy are the front row replacements with Ben Bamber and Dan du Preez the other forwards on the bench.

Scrumhalf Gus Warr, Luke James and Tom O’Flaherty are the backs replacements.

Two international 10s meet tomorrow 🤜💥🤛

Who will lead their team to the #GallagherPremFinal? 🫰#GallagherPrem @LeicesterTigers @SaleSharksRugby pic.twitter.com/9yw4MlS51W

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) June 6, 2025

Meanwhile, Cheika has made three changes to the starting side, including the return of Adam Radwan after the speedster missed the Round 18 victory.

Radwan comes back into the side to start on the wing in place of Josh Bassett.

Jack van Poortvliet and Joe Heyes, who came off the bench in Round 18, return to the XV in straight swaps with Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, seeing the experienced duo named among the replacements.

On the bench, Izaia Perese returns from injury which sees Mike Brown drop out of the matchday squad.

Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard will come into the game with 147 points accumulated so far this season and averaging 85 percent from the tee.

Meanwhile, his opponent, former Tiger George Ford, kicked six from six last weekend in a win over Newcastle.

“They [Sale] have been in the play-offs the last few years and understand this stage very well,” said Cheika.

“You can see that there is a real consistency in their game.

“They’re well led around the park by a guy a lot of the players know very well here, in George Ford, and they are a physical side; they’ve got the physical coach, physical pack, physical backs as well, and they come at you all game.

“But, I don’t think I’d expect anything less in a Premiership play-off, no matter who you’re playing.

“If you’re playing any team, we’d be saying they are going to come at you this weekend. And, we’ve got to receive that, deal with it, and come back with some of our own … that’s the power of footy.”

Prediction:

@rugby365com: Leicester by three points.

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Matt Rogerson, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Izaia Perese.

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Luke James, 23 Tom O’Flaherty.

Date: Saturday, June 7
Venue: Welford Road, Leicester
Kick-off: 15.30 (14.30 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Adam Leal & Craig Maxwell-Keys
TMO: Stuart Teerheege