London Irish assistant coach Declan Danaher expects a physical encounter on Saturday when the Exiles welcome Sale Sharks to Madejski Stadium.
Coming off the back of three successive victories, Steve Diamond’s side are going to provide a significant test when kick-off arrives at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.
“They have had a fantastic run in the Cup, it is going to be a very physical encounter” said Danaher.
“The Du Preez brothers are the focal point of everything that is good for them at the moment. We expect it to be combative and we will go out there and build from the things we did against Bristol.”
Three positives from last Sunday’s match against Bristol at Ashton Gate were the performances of Theo Brophy Clews, Max Northcote-Green and Isaac Curtis-Harris. All have been rewarded with a start again tomorrow
“It was brilliant to see Theo get through 80 minutes of rugby and we are looking forward to seeing him out there again. I thought he did some very good things in the game for someone who has been out for such a long period of time. His work rate was brilliant and this week in training he has been working hard, so looking forward to seeing him play again.
“Max and Isaac are involved again after last week. Max was physical in the tackle and Isaac carried the ball well, so we want to see more of that this weekend.”
Playing last Sunday has meant that preparations this week have been slightly limited given the timeframes of the game, something Danaher explains is part and parcel of the scheduling.
“Preparations have been good, the boys deserve a lot of credit, it has been a short week in terms of a training week and we have had two proper training days. Credit to them, our medical team and our S&C on getting the boys recovered to allow us to have two good sessions on Tuesday and Thursday.
We go into the game prepared for what is going to be a physical encounter which we look forward to.”
Tickets for tomorrow afternoon’s match with Sale Sharks are available by clicking here.
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