Alex Sanderson has described Sunday’s play-off clash against Leicester as “a game of grand magnitude” as Sale Sharks target a first Gallagher Premiership final appearance since 2006.
Sale beat Leicester 45-20 at Twickenham 17 years ago, helped on their way by 23 points from fly-half Charlie Hodgson, while captain Jason Robinson became the first player to win Grand Finals in both rugby codes.
The Sharks have featured in just one play-off occasion since that season, though, shipping 40 points against Exeter in 2021.
Standing in Sale’s way at a sold-out AJ Bell Stadium this weekend and a return to English rugby headquarters are the reigning Premiership champions.
When the clubs last met in Greater Manchester Sale ran out 40-5 winners, while Sharks finished second behind Saracens across the regular domestic season.
“Thankfully, this isn’t our first rodeo of recent times with this group,” Sale rugby director Sanderson said.
“We have learnt from two years ago how to manage these kind of moments better.
“It is a game of grand magnitude which we are looking to enjoy and embrace, not to be overwhelmed by. That is the challenge.
“Our excitement exists within this bubble. You don’t want to talk about the further reach because it can become overwhelming, as it did two years ago.
“You have to stick to process while being aware of the buzz around. It has been really, really busy around the ground and there is lots going on this weekend.
“We feel the support more than we ever have done. We have just got to come back to what has been working well for us, which is communicating well and training hard.”
It is difficult to under-estimate the drive that Sale have taken from their play-off loss against Exeter two years ago.
Had they beaten the Chiefs – also in Devon – during the final round of regular-season action a week earlier, then it could have secured a home semi-final.
Sanderson added: “We have been working towards it and building for this for two years, certainly since a year last Christmas when we realised we had a lot of work to do as an organisation.
“Since then, we have looked at how we can give ourselves these kind of opportunities.
“Now we are here, it feels like we have earned it. It’s less of a fairy-tale and there is less emotion around this occurrence than there was two years ago.
“We have referred back to the players, in particular seven or eight of them who have won the big trophies in the past, and how they have managed these weeks, how we can manage these moments better.
“It is a general understanding of how we deal with it, make sure it doesn’t change us, but be aware that it is there.”
On this day in 2015: Sorry England make World Cup history with group-stage exit
England became the first host nation to be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup at the group stage after losing 33-13 to Australia on this day in 2015.
Stuart Lancaster’s side had gone into the tournament on home soil with plenty of ambition to reclaim the World Cup they had famously won for the first time Down Under in 2003.
But those hopes were crushed on a damning night at Twickenham as the Wallabies cruised to a 20-point win to send England crashing out at the earliest stage possible.
England were in danger of exiting the tournament a week after they twice squandered a 10-point lead against Wales to lose 28-25 in Pool A, making this game a must-win encounter.
Victory over the Welsh would have seen England through to the knockout stages but they lost that match and were then ultimately outclassed by Australia’s brilliance, including an excellent performance from fly-half Bernard Foley.
The two teams exchanged early penalties but the Australians soon turned the screw, Israel Folau flying over the whitewash in the 20th minute and then again five minutes before half-time, with Foley’s conversions giving the Wallabies a 17-3 lead.
Another Foley penalty pushed England further towards the exit door and although an Anthony Watson converted try and an Owen Farrell kick pulled it back to 20-13, Farrell’s loss to the sin-bin alongside two Foley penalties put Australia further in charge before Matt Giteau dived over to rub salt into English wounds.
England’s failure to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time prompted Lancaster’s departure after a review just weeks later.
He said: “I ultimately accept and take responsibility for the team’s performance.”
After knocking England out, the Wallabies made it all the way to the final, but fell short of glory after they suffered a bruising 34-17 defeat to arch rivals New Zealand.
Finlay Bealham determined to ‘make the minutes count’ as Ireland face Scotland
Ireland prop Finlay Bealham is determined to “make the minutes count” as he prepares for a crucial showdown with Scotland following a frustrating start to his maiden Rugby World Cup.
Australia-born Bealham made his first meaningful contribution of the competition by coming off the bench to help secure a statement 13-8 victory over defending champions South Africa in round three.
He had been left out of the matchday 23 for his country’s opener against Romania and was then forced off by a head knock just 10 minutes into a second-half cameo the following week against Tonga.
Bealham, who showed his quality with some fine performances in this year’s Six Nations Grand Slam triumph, has won most of his 34 Test caps as a replacement and is understudy to first-choice tighthead Tadhg Furlong.
But the 31-year-old is ready and raring to go when called upon as Andy Farrell’s men attempt to avoid a shock early exit at the hands of the Scots.
“From a mindset point of view, when I’m on the bench, I don’t care how many minutes I play,” said Bealham.
“It’s ‘make the minutes count’. I try my best to do that.
“Personally it was a frustrating start to the campaign but some of that stuff was out of my control.
“When I got my chance, I just tried to come on and make a positive impact. It was incredible to get that experience.
“I’m looking forward to the Scotland game.
“Obviously there’s no team been named yet and it’s just about focusing on what I can control, fixing up things from the South Africa game and then bringing my game on top of that.”
Three successive Pool B wins have put the world’s top-ranked nation on the cusp of the quarter-finals.
Yet Ireland’s progression is far from assured going into Saturday evening’s pivotal Paris appointment.
Bealham turns 32 next Monday and will celebrate his birthday either preparing for a last-eight clash with France, New Zealand or Italy, or reflecting on elimination.
The Connacht player is eager to extend the “surreal” experience of playing on the world’s biggest stage and continue representing his late Irish grandmother, whom he thinks about when singing Ireland’s Call.
“I moved over originally when I was 18, 19 years of age having a dream of playing professional rugby and I moved over because the dream seemed a bit harder where I was in Australia,” said Canberra-born Bealham.
“I had that Irish heritage through my mum’s side of the family.
“I was really tight with my nana at the time. She used to ring me every day when I was in Galway and I remember one time I forgot to bring my phone to training and she ended up calling me like 70 times, it was something crazy, you wouldn’t believe it.
“I suppose to represent my nana, who I was always close with growing up, representing all them, would I have thought I’d be here a good few years later at a World Cup? It’s pretty surreal.
“Every time I get to wear the jersey, every time I sing the anthem, I always think of my family and everyone who sacrificed for me to get to where I’m at.”
Courtney Lawes says ‘selfless’ England will play to strengths at World Cup
Courtney Lawes insists England have forged an identity based on self-sacrifice as the personalities of the World Cup heavyweights begin to emerge.
England have crushed Argentina, Japan and Chile to claim a quarter-final place as Pool D winners with a match to spare and their procession through the group phase will be completed against Samoa on Saturday.
Expectation is rising, even allowing for the fact they have been gifted the easiest route into the knockout phase, but the likes of Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand have been making greater waves.
After the All Blacks’ 14-try rout of Italy on Friday, head coach Ian Foster made a pointed reference to the grinding nature of Ireland’s seismic victory over the Springboks.
“If you look at the South Africa-Ireland game, it was a different game of rugby,” Foster said.
“The ball was in play for 27 minutes throughout the whole game. It was a very stop-start game, very physical, very combative.
“You saw a different spectacle from us and at some point the world has got to decide which game it would rather watch.”
Lawes sees room for all playing styles and is satisfied with the traits developed by Steve Borthwick’s side.
“Our way is the England way. Doing it our way is doing it for each other,” the Northampton back row said.
“I like that it’s now really obvious what is every team’s DNA and what they’re trying to do. All the top teams have got really different genetics as a team, if you will – a team strategy.
“It’ll be interesting when they play each other how that is going to play off. I think that’s really good for us as players to see and be a part of.
“We’re a really strong defensive team. That’s our backbone. We’ve conceded one try in three games. We’re an aerial, kicking team and are very good at getting the ball back.
“We’re looking to build an attack off that, and hopefully by the time we get later on in the tournament that is where we want to be, and we will show a bit of a different side to us.
“Especially at the 2019 World Cup and this time, in terms of a team of players, we are so much more selfless.
“We want to play, we want to go out there and put our bodies on the line for each other and that is what really makes a difference when it hits the fan and you are under the cosh.
“You have got to want to get into it for each other or you get found out pretty quickly.
“We know what works, we want everybody to buy in, we do this for each other, not for ourselves.
“We hit a ruck and forego the glory so we can get the ball and someone else can score.
“Those are the things we pride ourselves on as a team and what we want to carry on into the future as well.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
