Crunching numbers ahead of Newcastle vs Sale: Cowan-Dickie's accurate throws
Sale Sharks will be desperate for a win to revitalise their play-off chances when they visit northern foes Newcastle Falcons, who need points to avoid finishing at the foot of the table.
Sale Sharks will be desperate for a win to revitalise their play-off chances when they visit northern foes Newcastle Falcons, who need points to avoid finishing at the foot of the table.
Newcastle were beaten 55-35 away at Bristol Bears in round 11 and Sale were also beaten 32-23 at home to Bath.
The Falcons are six points adrift at the bottom of the table, having picked up just two wins, while Sale are seventh and six points shy of the top four.
Falcons reliant on deadeye Grayson
Fly-half Ethan Grayson has a 90 per cent success rate when kicking at goal, the second best performance from anyone with at least ten attempts.
Meanwhile, no one has completed more tackles than Tom Gordon's 158 and Callum Chick's turnover record of seven is also the highest in the league.
Cowan-Dickie's top of the lineout charts
Sale's Joe Carpenter beat eight defenders in round 11, the joint highest, to bring his overall tally to 38 which is the third most across the division.
Luke Cowan-Dickie is proving accurate in his lineouts with a league-high 95 per cent success rate from 121 throws, while Ernst van Rhyn has made 15 dominant tackles - the second highest this season.
Sale's attack streaks ahead
There's very little to separate the sides looking at the numbers other than Cowan-Dickie's accurate darts and the tries scored.
Newcastle's lineout is operating 10 per cent below Sale's and is the worst in the league and they have also scored the least tries (19) compared to their visitors, who have scored almost double their counterparts (37) and are seventh in that area overall.