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Alex Sanderson has turned Sale Sharks into a well-balanced side, and their charge towards a playoff place continued this week, with another statement victory.
Alex Sanderson has turned Sale Sharks into a well-balanced side, and their charge towards a playoff place continued this week, with another statement victory.
The 25-7 win over Saracens showed the best of the Greater Manchester side, as they build momentum towards the Gallagher Premiership Final.
All but three of their points in their 25-7 win came in the first half, and while Raffi Quirke was unfortunate to be brought back for a phantom knock-on that ruled out a fourth try, Saracens’ defence held out.
The three tries Sale scored were impressive. Rekeiti Maasi-White finished a slick close-counter move, George Ford rounded off a counterattack, and Arron Reed’s finish was magnificent.
AGE AND EXPERIENCE
He beat three players on a run from goal line, and it showed Sale’s confidence attacking from their own line.
Wing Tom Roebuck impressed again, the du Preez brothers – Rob, Dan, and Jean-Luc – are absolute rocks, and Gus Warr and Quirke keep the pace high no matter who starts at scrumhalf.
Young prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is learning loads from Luke Cowan-Dickie, who along with Ford knows how to win a Premiership having won two with Exeter Chiefs.
DEFENSIVE SPIRIT
True, Saracens were badly below par. In attack their one out runners were easy to stop, and they were disjoined in the pack, notably when Nick Isiekwe failed to finish a rolling maul that fell apart just as it reached Sale’s line.
That said, Maasi-White and Quirke combined to hold up Theo Dan over the line to show Sale’s defensive spirit, and they will need plenty of that with matches away to Leicester Tigers and home to Bristol Bears in the next two rounds.
Those fixtures will show exactly what Sale are made of, and if all goes well then confidence will be sky high that a first Premiership since 2006 may be heading to the northwest.