Sale Sharks brought an end to their league season with an emphatic victory over Newcastle this weekend, cruising past the Falcons 54-12 and showing some good preparation ahead of their highly-anticipated home semi-final against Leicester Tigers.
The visitors might have already been consigned to a bottom-placed finish before rocking up to the AJ Bell stadium, but they might have expected a slightly more closely-run affair after opening the scoring inside three minutes.
However, it wasn’t meant to be and after a strong season for the Sharks and their historic semi-final against Leicester looming, they answered back just as quickly.
Before long, it was 21-7 to the home side and after starting the second half even stronger, they smelt blood, punishing every mistake possible and putting a further 33 points past the visitors. With a total of 10 tries in the game, Sale couldn’t have hoped to head into next week’s cup semi in better shape.
𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟-𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 | 🦈 54-12 🦅
Heading to the semi-final in fine fettle after a ten try thriller at the AJ Bell 🙌
Sale Sharks round off the season comfortably as they prepare for the big Premiership Rugby semi-final.
With Tom Roebuck, Sam James, Ben Curry; Bevan Rodd, Raffie Quirke and Aaron Reed all getting on the scoresheet, the Sharks will no doubt be feeling confident ahead of the big fixture on Sunday, 14 May, especially being at home.
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Given the momentous nature of the tie, tickets for the historic meeting sold out almost instantly, this being the team’s first home semi-final in 17 years — the last time being when they won it and against the Tigers, no less.
Even this warm-up game served as a historic occasion as veteran Will Cliff also called time on his professional career this season at age 34, enjoying a final run-out ahead of his testimonial. The club made clear how much his presence will be missed with a heartfelt video in April.
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Moreover, with the Women’s team set to face off against third-placed Bristol Bears at Heywood Road a day prior to the Leicester game — no doubt looking for vengeance after the defeat back in January — is set to be a stellar weekend for the Sharks.
𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙆𝙀𝙉𝘿 🔥
The ultimate Sharks weekender has arrived, #SharksFam 🙌.
Two unmissable clashes as we look to make this weekend one to remember!
Join us at Heywood Road on Saturday, all season ticket holders and U18s get 𝘍𝘙𝘌𝘌 entry! #FabricOfTheNorth
As for Sale vs Leicester, the clubs have met three times already this season, with the Sharks’ chances looking strong having won on all three occasions.
That being said, this will be the 106th meeting between the two and just the thirteenth at AJ Bell Stadium, with Leicester winning 69 of those fixtures compared to Sale’s 32, so it’s arguable that history is on the side of the Tigers. Nevertheless, the home advantage will no doubt play heavily in Sale’s favour.
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Elsewhere, first-place finishers Saracens host Northampton Saints in their semi-final on Saturday and should both teams progress, the league leaders — whom the Sharks beat back in March — will then be the only thing that stands in the way of the Manchester side’s first title since 2006. Can they do it?
You can watch Sale Sharks’ convincing victory over Newcastle Falcons down below:
New Amazon Prime Video docuseries to show Pep Guardiola’s final seasons at Manchester City
Emily Sergeant
A new all-access docuseries featuring Pep Guardiola’s final few seasons at Manchester City is set to air this summer.
Coming exclusively to Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, the four-part documentary is set to take Manchester City fans and neutral viewers alike inside the club as the players and manager – who delivered an era of dominance -make way for a new generation.
Filmed over the past two seasons, this is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football, and will offer unfiltered access to Guardiola, his squad, and the City boardroom.
After 10 trophy-filled years – which included six Premier League titles, the UEFA Champions League, three FA Cups, and five EFL Cups – Pep Guardiola called time on his tenure in Manchester last month, alongside fan favourite players Bernardo Silva and John Stones, as well as Kevin De Bruyne the season prior.
This new docuseries was there to follow them every step of the process.
Fans can follow City from a disappointing 2024/25 campaign right through to a domestic double the following season, charting the raw emotion of a squad in transition.
The series is directed by Academy and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald, alongside City Studios’ John De Caux, and is produced by Kevin Macdonald for Plan B/KM Films and Gavin Johnson and Ged Doherty for City Studios.
“This is the ultimate account of an emotional farewell that marks the end of an era in English football,” Amazon Prime Video said in a statement.
Joining Prime Video’s wide selection of sports programming, the series will be available to watch at no additional cost to Prime members this summer.
It’ll be ready to stream on 19 August.
Featured Image – Prime Video
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Here’s our petition for ‘Wonderwall’ to become England’s new football anthem
Danny Jones
All things considered, England have made a great start to the 2026 World Cup, pitching themselves as one of the great entertainers this tournament, and the scenes of the supporters and players alike serenading an entire stadium with ‘Wonderwall’ after the full-time whistle gave us chills.
So why not time for a change?
After all, that feels a lot like what this World Cup squad is about: a new manager, new teammates, not clinging to the previous ways of playing – and perhaps it’s time to put ‘Sweet Caroline’ to one side.
Now, we’re by no means saying that we’re ‘done’ with the John Denver anthem that has been reborn as a Three Lions anthem, but look at how good it was watching England belting out Oasis with the fans.
“Today is gonna be the day that England beat Croatia 4-2”, as BBC’s Match of the Day cleverly quipped.
Obviously, we’re biased as Mancs, but we also think there’s something special about having that particular track feel so good to hear again.
As much as we love Oasis, for a long time, it felt like we couldn’t enjoy arguably their biggest-ever single anywhere near as much as we once did.
We assume it’s something akin to hearing ‘Mr Brightside’ non-stop for what felt like millennia, and in truth, hearing those repetitions of “ba, ba, ba… SO GOOD, SO GOOD!” over and over again at sporting fixtures beyond just national team games has taken the magic out of it at times.
Perhaps it’s just a case of saturation in certain settings and songs simply being overplayed – FIFA’s co-hosts over in the US certainly helped see to that when it came to ‘Wonderwall’ for a long time.
On the other hand, it feels like we’ve now come full circle; singing those famous lyrics at the top of our lungs in a sea of Mancs and fans travelling from all over to Heaton Park for Live ’25 last year felt better than ever, and like we’d all remembered how great a tune it’s always been. So did this…
In fact, this felt so emotional that you’ve got people who aren’t even English praising both those on the pitch and up in the stands for the moment online.
Even the admittedly rather American Man vs Food himself, Adam Richman (though he does have British ancestry), felt compelled to write a moving response on social media: “Shut up. You’re the one that’s crying. Bravo, England.”
He’s far from the only one who was left bowled over by the atmosphere – us included.
What do you think? Is it time for a new go-to tournament anthem for the Three Lions moving forward?
Danny Jones -
9th May 2023 
