It has come down to the final day of the season as the battle for the final top four spot goes down to the wire. Sale Sharks are currently in fourth place and a home win against London Irish will see them home. If they were to slip up Harlequins and Liecester Tigers could move above them with the pair meeting at the Welford Road, but for the Tigers they would need to take all five points.

Below are details of the Sale v London Irish match

For details of all the other matches please click on this link

Sale Sharks v London Irish Saturday 10^th May 3pm

Current Form

·        The final league match of the season and if the Sharks beat the Exiles on Saturday they will be travelling to Gloucester, Bath or Wasps in the Premiership semi-final.

·        Sale had a magnificent 23-16 win at Harlequins last Saturday to move into 3^rd place in the league table. Following Wasps win at Newcastle on Wednesday, Sale are now 4^th and a win on Saturday will guarantee them at least that finishing position.

·        Sale have played 10 matches at home this season, winning 9 and losing to Worcester in February.

·        London Irish completed their home campaign with a 43-20 win against bottom club Leeds. They won 9 from 11 at the Madejski Stadium this season and are 7^th in the Premiership, 8 points behind the Sharks.

·        They have not been as successful away from home and have only won 3 from 10 played, at the homes of the bottom 3, Leeds, Worcester and Newcastle.

History

·        Sale and London Irish have met 23 times in league rugby since 1996.

·        Sale have won 14 and London Irish 8 with 1 game ending in a draw.

·        Sale have recorded 16 victories against Harlequins since 1996. Next best is 14 wins against London Irish.

·        Of the 11 matches played at Heywood Road and Edgeley Park, Sale have won 6, London Irish 4 and the sides drew 19-19 in 2001.

·        Sale have completed a league double against London Irish 5 times including the first 3 seasons they met.

·        London Irish have completed 2 league doubles against Sale, in 1999/00 and 2003/04.

·        London Irish beat Sale 20-12 at the Madejski Stadium in January this year and would be the only club to complete a league double against Sale this season if they were to pull off a victory on Saturday.

Trends and Trivia

·        If Sale win on Saturday it will be the 3rd time in the last 4 years they have reached the Premiership play-offs.

·        A victory on Saturday will give Sale 15 league wins this season. They have only beaten that total once before in the Premiership when they won 16 in their championship winning season 2005/06.

·        Sale are looking to go through this season with only 1 home defeat. They only lost 1 at home in the 2005/06 season, 15-9 to Saracens.

·        Despite the successful home campaign, Sale have only scored 21 tries at home this season. Only once in the last 11 years have they scored less and that was the 12 scored last season. The most they have scored at home in the Premiership was 42 in 1998/99.

·        Charlie Hodgson has scored 9 drop goals this season beating his previous best of 5 in 2004/05. He has now increased his Sale record to 25 drop goals in the Premiership. 9 drop goals is the most ever by Sale in a Premiership season.

·        Sale have the best defensive record in the Guinness Premiership this season conceding only 357 points, including only 34 tries. This easily beats their previous best performance of conceding 470 points in season 2002/03.

·        Charlie Hodgson became the first player to reach 200 points in this season’s Premiership last Sunday. He now has 201 to his name. He has beaten this total twice in his career with 208 in 2004/05 and 273 in 2000/01.

·        Ben Foden leads the Sale try scorers with 8 and Charlie Hodgson, Oriol Ripol, Sean Cox and Dean Schofield have all appeared in 19 matches this season.

·        London Irish have won 12 matches this season. They have only beaten this total twice with 14 wins in 2005/06 and 15 in 1998/99.

·        This season’s 9 wins from 11 games at home is the best performance in a Premiership season by London Irish.

·        London Irish scored 26 tries at home this season. The equal most they have scored since 1999/00.

·        London Irish only conceded 153 points in their 11 home matches this season. Only Sale with 120 and Gloucester with 146 have conceded less with one match each left. This was the fewest points London Irish have ever conceded in a Premiership season at home, previously 195 last season.

·        London Irish gained their first home try bonus point in their last home match on Sunday. They have only managed 2 try bonus points this season, against Leeds home and away.

·        London Irish have only converted 17 tries this season, the lowest total by any club in the Premiership. Only 4 of these have come away from home. The fewest ever conversions London Irish have scored away from home in a season was 6, last season.

·        Yet they have converted 57 penalties this season, the most in the Premiership. Sale have scored the next most with 56.

Peter Hewat is the top scorer for London Irish this season with 85 points and Sailosi Tagicakibau has scored 6 tries. Steffon Armitage and Tonga Lea’aetoa have both played in all 21 Premiership matches this season for London Irish.