Nickname: The Dogs
Ground: Heywood Road (Capacity 3,387)
This season: Fifth (P14 W9 D0 L5 TB11 LB3 Pts 50)
Last season: Eighth (P26 W13 D0 L13 TB14 LB6 Pts 72)
Previous games Vs. Rams:
Sale 31-17 Rams (September, 2025)
Sale 25-22 Rams (February, 2025)
Rams 33-0 Sale (September, 2024)
Rams 19-36 Sale (March, 2024)
Sale 29-17 Rams (November, 2023)
Recent Form:
Sale are one of the in-form division with five wins in their past six outings.
Before Christmas they defeated derby rivals Sedgley Park 29-13, bouncing back from a 24-14 reverse at second-placed Plymouth Albion.
A superb run before saw a hard-fought triumphs against Blackheath (26-21, home) and Birmingham Moseley (15-13, away) along with 33-26 and 58-12 success versus Tonbridge Juddians and hosts Dings Crusaders.
The Dogs lost 27-24 to Rosslyn Park in Round Eight, following a surprise 35-31 setback at Leicester Lions.
Another four-match winning streak preceded those losses, Sale toppling Bishop’s Stortford (43-12, h), Clifton (24-17, a), Leeds Tykes (38-15, h) and Rams (31-17, h).
A tricky start saw defeats to Sedgley (27-22) and Rotherhams Titans (43-28), albeit they picked up three bonus-points in those and have the joint-second most (14) in the league to date.
Players to Watch:
Josh Brown – Hooker/back row has proved an incredible record since joining Sale from Sanbach after Covid, missing just six games in racking up 112 appearances in just four-and-a-half seasons.
The Cheshire ace, who scored 21 times in the 2022/23 campaign, also reached 50 touchdowns for The Dogs earlier this term, sitting joint-second this year with five.
Also has one Premiership Cup appearance for Sale Sharks.
Joe Green – Scrum-half has proved a revelation since arriving for a second spell at Heywood Road from Ampthill last pre-season.
Tops the points-scoring charts for The Dogs with 81 (three tries, 24 conversions and three penalties) in a full house of 14 appearances this term, having bagged six five-pointers and missing just one fixture last time out.
He featured for Sharks in the Premiership Cup and has also played for Doncaster Knights and Yorkshire Carnegie in the second tier, along with Southern Districts in Australia’s Shute Shield.
Harry Davey – Versatile back debuted for The Dogs against Rams earlier in the season, and is top try-scorer with six having scored four at Dings and a brace versus Leeds Tykes.
Moved to Heywood Road from Championship side Doncaster, having previously spent eight seasons at Level Two after being with Cornish Pirates and Carnegie.
To book tickets for Saturday in what is always a terrific battle, click here
