Mental strength is key to success for Sale - Sanderson
ALEX Sanderson believes his Sale side are improving, but still have a long way to go despite their impressive win against Exeter.
The Sharks’ director of rugby has been focused on developing more than just tactics and skills in his squad, and he believes the work on the mental side of the game is starting to translate into on-the-pitch performance.
“Since I came in at the start we have been working on the mental as well as the physical,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Newcastle at the AJ Bell.
“The emotions, the feelings, the thoughts that affect your behaviours is the focus of sport right now. Can you stay in the moment?
“The best players are aware of themselves. Your Owen Farrells, your Lood de Jagers, all these guys are very much better at dropping any moment of brilliant skill as well as any moment of horrendous execution, they are better at dropping it and getting onto the next job.
“We are trying to see from the best players – how they do it and what they use – to fast track the less experienced players.”
Sale gave away 18 penalties against Exeter, which for
Sanderson is an example of how his side can spiral once things begin to go wrong.
“There was twice in the game where we gave away three or four penalties,” he said. “We have started that process right from week one to understand where we were in the game that led to the spiralling effect of backing up negatives, like penalty after penalty.
“At some point you have got to arrest the spiral, understand that it is happening and wrestle back that momentum. If we can marry up that self-awareness, next time we are in that position, we will have the tools to arrest the spiral.”
However, he believes there has been marked improvement from his side, who he thinks are relishing the challenge his programme is offering.
“We played our best 15 and a lot of those players played well, so there are a lot of positives,” he said of the Exeter win.
“I think the players are really enjoying it because they are finding their own answers but enjoying it and fixing it are two different things.
“But this isn’t a ‘this’ week thing, it has been a six-week thing. We saw some gains and I said give me two months and that was at six weeks.”