Springbok lock Lood de Jager is set to make his long-awaited debut for English club Sale Sharks.
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De Jager has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since last year's Rugby World Cup final but has been included on Sale's bench for their home Premiership match against London Irish on Friday.
De Jager, who joined Sale from the Bulls after the World Cup, told Rugby Pass he was looking forward to the next step in his career.
"In the last 12 months I have had two shoulder operations, won the World Cup and moved to England, a pretty busy time. There have been lots of ups and downs, a bit of a rollercoaster. Let's hope the injuries stay away now. I haven't got another shoulder to injure - just the two.
"I'm really excited about playing my first game for Sale... I spoke to Steve (Diamond, Sale director of rugby) a lot before I signed and we all want to achieve something special over the next couple of years."
Other South Africans in the Sale Sharks team for Friday night's match at the AJ Bell Stadium include Robert du Preez, Jean-Luc du Preez, Dan du Preez, captain Jono Ross, Coenie Oosthuizen and Faf de Klerk.
Sale Sharks team:
15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Luke James, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Will Clif, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Jake Cooper-Wooley, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Coenie Oosthuizen
Substitutes: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Will-Griff John, 19 James Phillips, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Byron McGuigan
TEAM NEWS ?? | ICYMI - Here are #YourSharks 2?3? to face @LiRFC tomorrow night??
— Sale Sharks?? (@SaleSharksRugby) March 5, 2020
We got Denny back in the mix ??
Yarde back to his best ??
Oh, and just a couple of World Cup winners too! ??-#SharkTime | @UKFast pic.twitter.com/e184JvaUgH
After 5 weeks of Super Rugby action, which South African team appears most likely to challenge for overall honours?
