New coach Alex still enjoying his Sale honeymoon
SHARKS CHIEF ‘PROUD’ OF PLAYERS’ EFFORTS
ALEX Sanderson has praised his Sale squad for his ‘seamless’ transition into the club as director of rugby.
It has been a solid start for the former Sharks player, whose side lie fourth in the Gallagher Premiership.
Their 31-16 win over Newcastle Falcons at the weekend made it back-to-back wins ahead of their trip to fifth-placed Northampton Saints on Saturday.
While it would be easy for the new boss to take all the credit, Sanderson was quick to praise his players for their effort and how their qualities fit into his own outlook on the game.
He said: “I wonder if I’m still in the honeymoon period, because everything I’m looking at and feeling is seemingly rose-tinted at the moment.
“I’m really enjoying the group of players and coaches I am working with, culturally we are more aligned than what I thought we would be.
“It’s a team that physically speak my language, and I knew that coming in. Their efforts against Newcastle, albeit ill-disciplined at times, couldn’t have made me prouder.
“The boys just love ripping in and banging teams and that is in harmony with a lot of my philosophies as a coach and was the way I played the game too, so the squad already have a lot of the qualities I respect.
“That’s made it easy to fit into an already well-established environment and I think it surprised me how seamless the transition was. It doesn’t seem like work, because it is enjoyable, and they are a good set of lads.”
Upon taking the role, Sanderson said he would judge himself after eight weeks, and his half-term report will surely be full of praise.
Wins over table-topping Bristol Bears and second placed Exeter Chiefs show Sale can take on the best in division, and Saturday’s game presents a great opportunity to consolidate their topfour spot.
But despite the many positives, Sanderson believes there is still room for improvement from his side. “I think performance-wise there is still a lot more to come,” he explained.
“Of course, I don’t think I would have had it cracked by eight weeks, but I hoped I would see the signs of how dangerous we could be.
“Being clinical with our attack and showing how physical we could be in defence and how much pressure we could exert on our opposition with our line speed.
“I think we saw good examples of that at the weekend, along with an improvement in our set-piece, so we’re getting there.
“The holy grail for any rugby coach is to get it for 80 minutes.”
Meanwhile, Sale have been drawn away to Scarlets in the last 16 of the Heineken Challenge Cup.