Sale 'cranking up the dial' to avoid hot water

A STRIPPED-DOWN, England international-less Sale Sharks side will travel down to Bath with vengeance in mind this weekend, as hooker Tadhg McElroy makes his debut.

- TOM JEFFREYS

It's their first time at The Rec since last season's semi-final heartbreak, where late scores from Finn Russell and Niall Annett denied Sharks a second Premiership final in a row.

With that in mind and last week's 47-17 humbling at the hands of Northampton Saints fresh in the memory, there is already plenty of motivation heading into the final round of Premiership fixtures before the international break.

The break means spine-members of the team Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ben and Tom Curry and Tom Roebuck are all missing as they prepare for England's opener vs New Zealand in Girona, meaning the matchday 23 resembles the side that beat Gloucester 31-27 in Sharks' best performance of the season so far.