There was a feel-good factor at Sale’s Manchester training base on Tuesday as temperatures hit an unseasonable 20 degrees and Alex Sanderson treated his players to ice lollies after their big session of the week. For a second, you had to remind yourself you were in Carrington and not the Cote d’Azur.
‘It doesn’t get much better than this up north,’ said Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby. ‘We’ve not had a lot of sunshine, literally or metaphorically, so far this season. But we’ve got to a European quarter-final and with the addition of Courtney Lawes, the feeling around the place is now one of building towards what’s hopefully going to be a bright future.’
Daily Mail Sport visited on the same day Sale’s surprise capture of former England captain Lawes for next season was officially confirmed, with the likes of Joe Marchant, Alex Lozowski, Nicky Smith and Tomas Francis also joining next season, while a whopping 21 players are set to leave.
Sale have won just three of 12 league games all season, but with a Champions Cup blockbuster at Leinster on Saturday and a host of arrivals on the horizon, better times lie ahead.
‘It’s been the toughest season I’ve had,’ Sanderson admitted. ‘Tough isn’t a bad word. I like tough. I’m a glutton for punishment. Through tough times, you become a better person and coach and if you’re not in this sport to get better, you’re in the wrong game.
‘Go get a nine to five. Work simple hours, clock off, and enjoy your weekend. That’s not what I’m about and it’s not what Sale is about. We’re in the business of getting better. There’s good evidence that when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up.’
Alex Sanderson (centre) hails his players after last week’s Champions Cup last-16 win at Harlequins, setting up a mammoth task this Saturday away to Leinster
Sale have been poor this season, but the quarter-final and impending arrivals of England players Joe Marchant (left) and Courtney Lawes (centre) means better times are ahead
In the Six Nations period, with his team’s PREM hopes already over, Sanderson began a root-and-branch review of Sale’s season to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong
Sanderson, Sale’s fans and the club’s owners and loyal backers Simon and Michelle Orange and Ged Mason will certainly hope that to be the case.
Sale’s chances of what would be a shock victory over Irish giants Leinster have been hit by season-ending injuries to England front-rowers Bevan Rodd and Luke Cowan-Dickie. The latter’s surgery to fix a broken arm and the suspension of Nathan Jibulu for biting an opponent has left Sanderson with only two novice hookers in Ethan Caine and Alfie Longstaff for the trip to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
‘They’re less experienced,’ conceded Sanderson, phlegmatic as ever. ‘But what’s the alternative?’
Caine, 24, known as ‘Caino The Volcano’ at Sale, will have to deliver the most seismic performance of his career up against Ireland and Lions star Dan Sheehan if Sale are to have success.
‘It will be the biggest game I’ve played,’ Caine said. ‘It’s a chance for me to take on what is as close to a Test team as you can get in club rugby. A win would be insane.
‘We’re going there to win. The message from Alex is not to wait. We respect Leinster massively but for us to win, we have to take the game to them. We’re going to try and get after them.’
Whatever happens in Dublin, Sanderson has long been planning for 2026-27. In the Six Nations period, with his team’s PREM hopes already over, he began a root-and-branch review of Sale’s season to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong. Such a review would normally take place in the summer, but Sanderson was keen to get ahead of the curve.
‘Every department was reviewed,’ he said. ‘We had external people come in. The players wanted answers on how we’re going to get better. That mirror was reflected back on them as well. The results we’ve had have shed light through the cracks of where organisationally we could be better.
England front-rowers Luke Cowan-Dickie and Bevan Rodd are both out for the rest of the season with injuries suffered at Quins but Sanderson is not giving up
Ethan Caine (centre) will face a huge task at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday
Caine must keep a lid (as much as possible) on Dan Sheehan (centre) Ireland’s try-scoring machine of a hooker
‘Sometimes, when you get good results, it can paper over other issues. This season has made us take stock of everything. It’s been a busy few months. The turnaround in players and coaches has been huge, but we’re making adjustments and I feel the club’s moving in a good direction. I feel we’ve got the solutions. We’re not far off.’
Injuries have been a constant at Sale this season. The Curry twins Tom and Ben have barely played and remain sidelined. Another England player, wing Tom Roebuck, was absent between the autumn and Six Nations. Raffi Quirke has joined Cowan-Dickie and Rodd on the absentee list for the Leinster game.
On the coaching front, Sanderson had to adjust following the mid-season departure of Marco Bortolami. Defence coach Byron McGuigan has also left and is expected to join Steve Borthwick’s England permanently. In Sanderson and No 10 George Ford – long billed as a coach-in-waiting – Sale have a brains trust any team would envy.
‘Yes Fordy, great kick,’ cried Sanderson during training. As Ford and fellow backs Rob du Preez and Tom O’Flaherty begin one contact drill, they are mocked for their age. ‘It’s the OAPs!’ shouted scrum-half Gus Warr, before the rest join in. ‘Their combined age is 100!’ Watching Sale training, Ford’s influence is apparent. He seems to take part in drills and run them simultaneously. ‘Hammer! Gibson-Park, Gibson-Park,’ he shouts, preparing his team for the threat of Leinster’s superstar Ireland scrum-half.
Despite a tough season, Sale’s players have a jovial nature. ‘I’ve been to Dublin for Jack Nowell’s stag,’ said flanker Jacques Vermeulen, who lifted the European Cup while at Exeter. ‘This will be a more serious trip. It’s all business.’
Sanderson drives a no-nonsense environment at Sale. Don’t expect the Sharks to die wondering. They are a team with a nasty bite, as Leinster will find out.
‘I’m not naive enough to not know what’s being said about us,’ Sanderson said. ‘No one gives us a chance, not even a supercomputer! If I’m honest, my message is stronger than just embracing the challenge. If you put it like that, it’s almost like you’re turning up to be a part of their party. We’re certainly not doing that.
‘This will be our third European quarter-final in six seasons since I’ve been here. We’ve been to a PREM final. Getting to finals isn’t a novelty for this group. We could do something that upsets the odds and will make people remember us. We’re struggling with that. We still feel like we’re yet to earn the respect of the wider rugby world. We’re a team that wants to matter.’
George Ford remains hugely influential at Sale, masterminding last week’s win at Quins
The likes of Tom Roebuck have spent large swathes of the season injured, and Sale have won just three of their 12 PREM games as a result
Sale’s last major trophy came all the way back in 2006 when they beat Leicester at Twickenham in the Premiership final
| Friday, 8pm | Bath v Northampton Saints |
| Saturday, 3pm | Glasgow Warriors v Toulon |
| Saturday, 5.30pm | Leinster v Sale Sharks |
| Sunday, 4pm | Bordeaux-Begles v Toulouse |
Why does Sanderson feel like that? ‘I don’t think we’ve been a fashionable club over the years,’ he replied. ‘It’s been 20 years since we’ve had real success. Getting to finals isn’t enough. Our drive over the next few years is to win a trophy and to cement what we believe we’ve been building.
‘Maybe it’s geography and where we’re based. We don’t have our own ground. Hopefully, that’s going to change. We’ve certainly got owners who are invested for the long term – Simon, Michelle and Ged are involved in everything we do. I think that’s right, it’s their money.
‘They were in the meeting about signing Courtney. I have to say they’re some of my best mates. If we have a good result, I’ll go round and see them on a Sunday and we’ll have a dirty martini. If it’s a bad result, I’ll go around and have a brew. If it’s a really bad loss, then we definitely have a drink!
‘They ask questions about performances, results and recruitment. I welcome that because if I’m not able to give them the answers, I’m not doing my job properly. It keeps me honest. Manchester rose from humble beginnings. It’s historically a working-class city based on industrial skills. People here work hard. They’re gritty. They’re the underdog.
‘Yet they’re still from a place that had the ability to revolutionise the world. Let’s be proud of that heritage. We have an opportunity this weekend and in the future to put this club on the map internationally. That’s what I want this Sale team to do.’
