Sale are ‘all on the same page’
SHARKS NOW TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO EURO CAMPAIGN
AFTER a slow start to their Gallagher Premiership campaign, Sale Sharks are finally building momentum with three consecutive wins moving them up to fifth.
Spirits are high in camp following Friday’s exhilarating 24-18 home victory over leaders and defending champions Saracens. And centre Sam James believes the team are finally ‘singing off the same hymn sheet.’
“I think it’s just down to chemistry,” the 24-year-old told M.E.N. Sport.
“It’s taken some time for the formations to slot in and for people to be comfortable with each other.
“Now everyone knows exactly what they’re doing and it’s running smoothly.”
Former Wilmslow High School pupil James was named man of the match following his impressive performance against Sarries, which included a try, but that accolade doesn’t really mean too much to him.
“Obviously, it’s nice to get the acclaim but it’s a team sport and it’s a better feeling knowing the team have played well than me personally, so I’m glad we’re performing on the pitch how we are,” he said. “I only play well if the team plays well.
“We’re putting up a real fight up front, which is making it easier for us backs. The shifts that the forwards are putting in to keep pushing them back, both attack and defence is second to none.
“It’s making it easier, giving us a good platform to play off.”
James’ try in the 15th minute on Friday night was his first of the season.
“I get the Mick taken out of me for not scoring yet so it’s nice to get one”, he laughed. “I keep feeding the wingers – Byron McGuigan, Denny Solomona and Chris Ashton – and I don’t seem to get a lot of chances myself, so it’s nice to finally be giving something back.”
Sale now take a break from Premiership action to resume their European Challenge Cup campaign against Connacht on Saturday. But James is keen for their current momentum to continue.
“We want to be pushing top four by the end of the season,” he said. “We have a bit of a break now going into Europe where we can kind of reassess and focus on different targets.
“Then when we come back into that big section of Premiership games, we need to be pushing on, continuing the form that we’ve had these past three games.
“We are looking to improve on each performance that we have, and I think we’ve been doing that week to week – from the Bristol, to the Gloucester and to the Saracens game. We’ve been going up in our performances so we just need to keep that ball rolling.”