Bristol Bears face Sale Sharks with thinned squad in Friday night cup clash

Bristol Bears travel to the CorpAcq Stadium in Sale on Friday, November 6, to face the Sale Sharks in Round Three of the 2026/27 PREM Rugby Cup. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:45 p.m. local time. For Bucks County residents following the English Premiership, the game marks a critical test for a team missing a large portion of its regular starting lineup due to international commitments.

The Bears enter the fixture following a 22-16 defeat to the Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership last weekend. They previously beat Gloucester Rugby 43-40 in their opening cup match in December before losing 45-21 to the Exeter Chiefs. The Sale Sharks are currently on a three-game losing streak across all competitions, including a 36-28 away loss to Bath Rugby last Saturday. Despite a strong summer recruitment campaign, Sale has struggled to convert those signings into victories.

Bristol will be without 11 players who started against Leicester because of national team duties. Ellis Genge and Harry Randall are with the England senior squad, while Fitz Harding, Joe Batley, and George Kloska are with England A. The A team is set to face Argentina XV at the Rec. Argentina lock Pedro Rubiolo is also unavailable, as he is named in the Pumas squad against Argentina. Matias Moroni is in the wider Argentina squad but will not play this weekend.

Other absences include Louis Rees-Zammit with Wales, Tom Jordan with Scotland, and Luka Ivanishvili with Georgia. Veteran fly-half AJ MacGinty, 36, is with the US Eagles camp to train and advise the squad. He will not play in their Test matches as he manages his body ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. Benjamin Grondona is also potentially lining up for the touring England A side.

With at least seven senior players unavailable through injury, head coach Pat Lam is managing the smallest senior squad in the Premiership. Bristol defence coach Jordan Crane noted that prop Max Lahiff and number eight Khalik Kareem have returned to training. Lahiff has been rehabbing a foot and ankle injury, while Kareem, who signed from Worcester Warriors this summer, is dealing with a complex foot injury and has yet to make his debut. Crane stated that both players should be ready or nearly ready during the current cup block.

The Bears have a bye in Round Four next weekend. They have already won away at Sale earlier this season in league play. Official team news was released at midday on Thursday, November 5.

The game is part of Group A in the competition. The result will determine the Bears' position in the group standings as the tournament progresses.