Bath vs Sale Sharks Prediction: A bridge too far for Sale

The second Premiership Semi-Final will see Bath host Sale at The Rec on Saturday afternoon. After their win vs Northampton on the final day of the season, Bath earnt a home Semi-Final fixture and although it looked as if it would be against Saracens, their loss to Sale meant it’s the Sharks that head to the west-country in the hope of booking a day out at Twickenham next weekend.

Bath have had a great season so far and will certainly be pleased on bagging a home Semi-Final, considering they’ve won all but two of their home games this season. Bath have developed into an all-court side, blending the power of their pack with the guile of their backline.

It means that Sale will have to stop them on all fronts to compete, especially in the final quarter as Bath have grown their squad depth extensively to enable quality players to come off the bench and close out victories.

Sale have snuck up on their Premiership rivals and have won their last 5 games to catapult them into 3^rd spot of the playoffs. They are the form side in the Premiership and produced a big upset last week away at Saracens, however will have to dig deep in the well to replicate a similar performance and get a second win on the road in a row.

They are without Tuilagi this week who is injured and although rumours spread that Tom Curry would be back in time, he’s been left out of the squad as a precaution. Despite being in good form, I think this is a tall ask for Sanderson’s Sale and believe they will fall short at The Rec.

Prediction: Bath -6 @ 4/5

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Team News: 

Bath

Van Grann has only made one change to the starting side that defeated the Saints last week. The front-row will consist of the powerful trio Obano, Dunn and du Toit, with Roux and Ewels partnering again in the second-row behind them. Hill and Underhill occupy the two flanker spots and that only squad change sees bulldozer Barbeary starting at no.8, with Bayliss swapping to the bench.

Captain Spencer has been a constant at scrum-half this season and retains his spot this week. He will partner with Russell at fly-half, with Redpath and Lawrence the midfield combination. The wingers will be Muir and Cokanasiga, leaving Gallagher at full-back.

Sale

Alex Sanderson only makes 2 changes to his starting side this week, keeping a settled squad together after their victory at Saracens last week. The front-row is made of Rodd, Taylor and Harper. Andrews and Wiese will combine in the second-row, with Dugdale, Ben Curry and Du Preez together in the back-row.

The half-back duo will be Warr and Ford – the latter is set for an enticing battle against Russell. Tuilagi drops out this week, meaning James slots into the centres alongside Rob Du Preez. Out-wide O’Flaherty and Roebuck are on the wings, with Carpenter at full-back.

Bet reasoning

These two sides faced off here at The Rec a few months ago – a game which Bath’s bench overpowered Sale’s to clinch a 42-24 win. Although I don’t expect so many points tomorrow afternoon, I can see a similar patter occurring in the game tomorrow, with a tight first half but Sale falling away in the final quarter with Bath finding an extra gear in the latter stages.

In these high-stakes games, home advantage makes a significant difference and I believe it will propel Bath to victory in this game.