Sharks suffer a hammer blow with Addison injury
SALE centre Will Addison looks set to miss the remainder of the season after breaking bones in his foot in yesterday’s clash at Saracens.
The Cumbrian had been in fine form since taking the captain’s armband and his absence will be a bitter blow to Sharks’ hopes of making the top six - plus his own personal ambitions of touring Argentina with England in the summer.
Before yesterday, Addison had been the catalyst behind Sale’s resurgence and had relished the extra responsibility of captaincy.
He told TRP: “It is one of those things that puts pressure on you to be one of the better performers week-in week-out and that’s all I am really thinking about – playing well and helping the team that way.”
Addison wore the captain’s armband for the first time in the narrow Champions Cup loss to Toulon last month and has since presided four wins from four – “a happy coincidence,” he claims.
Originally chosen to lead the side while Josh Beaumont was out injured, Addison continued in the role last week despite the loose forward’s return to fitness against Wasps.
“It was probably one of my proudest moments leading the team out at Toulon, it is such an amazing place to play,” he stated.
“The captaincy is something I really enjoy doing but to have Josh back fit as a fiddle is brilliant.
“If I’m needed to keep doing it for a little bit longer until he is fully up to speed and confident in himself following his injury, I’m more than happy to do it.”
As a player, Addison consistently makes the right decisions at the right time and that trait has transferred to his leadership.
Denny Solomona’s firsthalf try against Newcastle a fortnight ago came as a direct result of his brave call to go for an attacking scrum from a penalty.
“Dimes was screaming at me to go for the corner but I knew that Nicky Goneva wouldn’t be there (to mark Solomona), as he’d been sent to the sin-bin, and luckily it worked out exactly how I envisaged. I’m sure there will be other occasions when that isn’t the case, though.”
Sale played Wasps at their own game in last Sunday’s game, particularly in the first half, keeping the ball alive at every opportunity. And Addison says attack coach Paul Deakin must take credit.
“His fine detail coaching is brilliant,” the 24-year-old said. “With the way we attack, we have a lot of options and when you’ve got lots of options you’re always going to get soft shoulders against defenders.
“It’s not been so much about creating those opportunities, it has been about finishing them off and we are starting to do that more.”