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What’s in a number? No brotherly love lost between Arscott siblings as Sale Sharks face Exeter Chiefs

There will be more than points on offer when Sale Sharks face Exeter Chiefs on Saturday as both fullbacks share more than a shirt number.

Sharks Tom Arscott is set to face off against older brother Luke and when the pair clashed earlier this season Chiefs were able to capitalise on a poor first-half performance from Sale and finished 16-18 victors.

However Tom is seeking revenge and hopes that Sale can travel to Sandy Park Stadium and bring the spoils back to Manchester.

Arscott said: “Playing against my brother is always a game that I look forward to playing in whether it is home or away. Obviously they beat us up here so now we need to go down there and put that right.

“We have always had a good rivalry because there isn’t too much of an age difference. Everything has always been reasonably competitive and I think that probably brings out the best in us.

“With him being my opposite number really doesn’t make a difference it is just someone wearing the 15 shirt. I know it’s my brother and I might know his game a little better but you just have to play what is in front of you.

“He scored against me last year when I was at London Welsh and so I will be trying my best to put one past him this weekend.”

Heading into clash Arscott is confident that Sale can regain some of their momentum after losing back-to-back games against Northampton and Harlequins.  

“Yeah I think we are confident that we can stay in the top six and Exeter are behind us so they are fired up to beat us. We need to put in a performance and make sure we stay ahead of them,” added the 26-year-old.

“I think a lot of the boys, myself included, want to go out and put a few things right that we didn’t do well last week. The mood is good around here, we have a good season with a few hiccups along the way. But if you look at the bigger picture we can be proud of our season.

“I am really excited for Europe next season it is the biggest tournament and it is what every team wants to play in. It is always exciting to play against the big teams in Europe and everyone is looking forward to giving ourselves that opportunity.

“My first season at Sale has been really good, it has been a great squad to integrate into we have a good balance on and off the pitch and there is also a good social side up here.”

Main image courtesy of officialexeterchiefs via YouTube, with thanks.

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