Sale will reclaim second spot with victory over a Saracens side reeling from the loss of suspended talisman Owen Farrell. Here's what you need to know about tonight's game
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from anywhere
Match one of Owen Farrell’s five-game suspension sees Saracens face a daunting Gallagher Premiership test in Manchester (6pm). Sale have scored precisely 100 points in beating Wasps, Bristol and Leicester in their previous three outings and the Sharks will be confident they can overcome their understrength visitors.
Farrell, the England stand-off and captain, received his ban last night for a “reckless” tackle on Wasps’ Charlie Atkinson last Saturday. He will be free to play again on 5 October, ruling him out of Sarries’ Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Leinster. His England commitments, including a Six Nations date in Rome on 31 October, will be unaffected.
Related content: Owen Farrell sent off
Saracens had been chugging along nicely until that Wasps match, which ended a ten-match unbeaten home record. The Farrell incident deflected from the fact that such a strong Sarries line-up went down to a side missing almost all of their front-liners.
As Bristol’s thumping of Northampton last night showed, it can be hard for teams lacking the incentive of play-off rugby to maintain the thunderous tempo of Premiership rugby when the games come so thick and fast.
Sarries tonight give a first outing since February to Scotland centre Duncan Taylor while Doncaster Knights loanee Robin Hislop could make his club debut from off the bench.
Seven of the starting XV, including the half-backs, Manu Vunipola and Tom Whiteley, and the second-rows, Joel Kpoku and Callum Hunter-Hill, played in Saracens’ 36-22 win over Sale at a blustery Allianz Park last February. Watch highlights of that reverse fixture here.
Sale are within touching distance of a first semi-final since 2005-06, when they went on to win the title. Aside from their sloppiness at restarts, DoR Steve Diamond was delighted by their performance at Welford Road, when they achieved a first-ever bonus-point win at the ground. Victory tonight will allow Sale to jump back ahead of Bristol into second place as the clubs scrap for a home semi-final, albeit one that may be played in an empty stadium.
Newly signed flanker Cobus Wiese, the tenth South African on Sale’s books, is on the bench tonight as Diamond makes 11 changes to his match-day squad. Sam Hill will make his home debut for the club, there’s a second Premiership start for Russian loosehead Valery Morozov, and England U20 stars Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed get a run in the back three.
Keep an eye on Sharks’ discipline tonight – Sale players are fined £50 each if the team concedes more than ten penalties in a match. Under the stricter tackle/breakdown laws now in operation, that’s a pretty stiff challenge!
Mind your back! Referee Ian Tempest takes evasive action as Faf de Klerk kicks against Leicester (Getty)
Sale: Simon Hammersley; Tom Roebuck, Sam James, Sam Hill, Arron Reed; Robert du Preez, Will Cliff; Valerey Morozov, Curtis Langdon, Will-Griff John, Matt Postlethwaite, James Phillips, Cameron Neild, Ben Curry (capt), Daniel du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Connor Doherty.
Saracens: Elliott Obatoyinbo; Dom Morris, Duncan Taylor, Juan Pablo Socino, Rotimi Segun; Manu Vunipola, Tom Whiteley; Sam Crean, Tom Woolstencroft, Alec Clarey, Joel Kpoku, Callum Hunter-Hill, Calum Clark, Sean Reffell, Andy Christie.
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Josh Ibuanokpe, 19 Cameron Boon, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Alex Day, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Harry Sloan.
Here we explain how to find a reliable Sale v Saracens live stream wherever you are.
How to watch Sale v Saracens from outside your country
If you’re abroad, but still want to watch your local Premiership coverage, like Sale v Saracens today, you can do so by using a VPN – Virtual Private Network.
VPNs allow you to get around any geo-blocking by changing your IP address so you appear in a different location and can watch the same legal Premiership live stream you would at home.
Our friends at TechRadar have tested hundreds of VPN and recommend ExpressVPN, which is easy to use, has strong security features and allows you to watch on several devices at once, including smart TVs and phones, iPads, tablets, PCs and Macs.
Plus, ExpressVPN comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get three months free.
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from the UK
Sale v Saracens, which kicks off at 6pm tonight, will be shown live on BT Sport Extra 2 in the UK. If you don’t have a BT contract but want to watch the match, don’t worry because you can still easily watch it online.
That’s because BT Sport has a contract-free monthly pass that allows you to get instant access to all four of their sport channels for just £25.
That’s great value given they’re showing every Premiership game played behind closed doors live and will also be covering the European Champions and Challenge Cup knockout stages in September and October. Plus, you can cancel at any time because there’s no contract.
Clubs are also working with BT Sport to allow season ticket-holders free access to home games on the channel’s app.
If you’re from the UK but are overseas when Sale v Saracens takes place, you can get your normal live stream but you’ll need a VPN – see the information above.
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from the USA
If you live in the States, the official broadcaster of Premiership matches is NBC, with matches streamed on NBC Sports Gold so you can watch them anytime and anywhere.
Sale v Saracens will kick off at 1pm EST and 10am on the West Coast.
The NBC Sports Gold Pass for rugby is $79.99 and includes coverage of the Gallagher Premiership, European Champions and Challenge Cups, and Guinness Six Nations.
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from Australia
For those in Australia, Fox Sports have the rights to show Premiership matches. You can watch Sale v Saracens on Fox Sports More from 3am tomorrow morning (AEST).
The Foxtel Sports HD bundle is $74 a month – and you get 50+ other channels as well as Foxtel GO, so you can watch when on the move.
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from New Zealand
It’s little wonder that Sky Sport NZ, with ten sports channels, including one dedicated to rugby, is the rights-holder for Premiership matches in New Zealand.
If you want to tune in to Sale v Saracens from the Land of the Long White Cloud, the match kicks off at 5am tomorrow morning on Sky Sport NZ 4.
It costs $31.99 a month to add Sky Sport to your Sky Starter pack ($25.99), but if you sign up for 12 months before 30 September 2020 you’ll get your first month free. Plus, you’ll get Sky Go, which allows you to watch live rugby wherever you are.
Sale v Saracens live stream: How to watch from South Africa
If you want to keep track of the many South Africans plying their trade in the Premiership, including the large contingent at Sale, then SuperSport shows matches in South Africa.
South Africa is one hour ahead of the UK, so Sale Sharks v Saracens kicks off at 7pm on SuperSport Grandstand and Variety 2.
There are various DStv packages available that give access to SuperSport, ranging from EasyView, with access to Blitz, to Premium, with all ten sports channels.
Guess who: Saracens boss Nigel Wray looks on from the stands during the match against Wasps (Getty)
We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
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