Sharks have to turn potential into points
JONO Ross knows Sale have all the potential in the world, but now he has urged his team-mates to go out and prove it.
The Sharks are languishing one place off the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership, having won just two of their opening seven games.
Last week they went close to beating the then league leaders, Saracens, and face another crucial test at home to Northampton tomorrow.
With a host of internationals in their side, Sale aren’t short of talent. But skipper Ross knows they now need to start translating that into points.
He told M.E.N. Sport: “It’s easy to say that we’ve got the potential, which I think we do have definitely with the quality of players that we have at the club, but we need to start realising that on the pitch and I think once we start knocking a win or two off we will start showing the side we are.
“The start of the season hasn’t quite gone to plan. I think we probably expect a little bit more.
“We’ve had a couple of disappointing results. We sort of built a bit of momentum but, unfortunately, we let one slip against Saracens last weekend.
“We’ve got to be better than where we are at the moment, but we are building and trying to improve every week.”
Saturday’s 31-25 loss to Sarries was a hard one for the team to deal with after missing several chances to put the game to bed.
“It was a bit disappointing,” said Ross. “We got ourselves into the position to win the game but we couldn’t quite finish it off.
“But we know that from week one to now, we’ve improved as a team. And I think we’ve just got to keep improving.”
Sale can’t afford to make the same mistakes against seventhplaced Northampton tomorrow. And looking back at the Saints’ impressive 36-17 win against Wasps on Saturday, Ross knows they face a challenge.
“We know this is a big one for us,” he said. “We need to win at home.
“Northampton are a good team, they are coming off the back of a good win.
“We just need to start winning, and winning more regularly really, but that has to start this weekend.
“We probably haven’t been as clinical and as dangerous as we’d like to be, so it’s an area we need to improve.
“We’re trying to evolve, we’re trying to improve, we’re trying to find a way to score more so, hopefully, we can do that.
“It’s just about focusing on ourselves and making sure we get better, and really come on and put in a good performance.”
Sale haven’t been as badly hit as other clubs by the loss of international players.
But Ross believes those that have been away with their nations will add even more to the Sale dressing room when they return next week.
He said: “Byron McGuigan as well as Josh Strauss are away with Scotland.
“They will bring knowledge and quality when they come back to the squad, which is great.
“It’s what you want. Go out, learn a bit, bring it back to us and hopefully add to what we’re doing.”
MANU Tuilagi will finally make his first appearance of the autumn when England face Australia at Twickenham tomorrow.
Tuilagi missed the opening three Quilter Internationals because of a groin strain and was rated ‘highly unlikely’ by Eddie Jones to play against the Wallabies, but is poised to end his two-year absence as a second-half replacement.
England have been cautious over his fitness due to the run of serious injuries that have ravaged his career and were forced to withdraw him from the bench against South Africa.
He is joined among the replacements by England co-captain Dylan Hartley.