Sale know they must learn to turn screw
GUS WARR says Sale Sharks are working hard on the secondhalf drop-offs in form that are threatening to undermine their season.
In both Heineken Champions Cup games this season, the Sharks have failed to score a single point after the break. Against Ospreys in round one, they raced into an early 21-3 lead but were left holding on for a 21-13 victory.
Then, on Sunday, they failed to back up a magnificent first half against Clermont, where the scores were level at 19-19, as they slipped to a 24-19 defeat.
The trend is not isolated to the Champions Cup either, with points lost in the Premiership after Sale faltered having previously been in the driving seat. Warr hopes they can put the issue to bed in the return match against Ospreys today.
“It is something we are looking to address, we are talking about it in meetings and trying to figure out what we need to do to back up what we we’ve done in the first half in the second half,” said the 22-year-old scrum-half.
“It was frustrating not to score a point in the second half against Clermont and it was the same against Ospreys. Hopefully, we can address it, get the edge that we need and put it right as quickly as possible.”
Warr came on as a replacement for Will Cliff at the Stade Marcel Michelin and is enjoying being in the thick of things with Faf de Klerk out injured and Raffi Quirke very much involved with England.
For Warr, Quirke’s rapid rise serves as extra motivation to him to go on and achieve his own ambitions in the game. “There’s a few boys who came through the academy in my year and have gone on to win international honours – Raffi, Cameron Redpath, Ewan (Ashman) and Bev (Rodd), we grew up playing together and they have all shown what they can do,” he said.
“It really does highlight that if you keep working hard and doing what you need to do for the first team, there is that pathway to go on to higher honours.”
Like Ashman, Warr is keen to go down the Scotland route. “I think I’d prefer to play for Scotland having gone to school up there (the Dollar Academy), and playing 18s, 19s and 20s up there as well,” he explained.
As well as his peers, inspiration comes from closer to home as his father, Mark, is a former Sale player. Warr admits having that family connection to the club is special.
“He played just before the game went professional, he played with Dimes (Steve Diamond) and I think he played with Al’s (Sanderson) older brother.
“Later on, when he coached Winnington Park and they’d play Sale at Heywood Road, me and my brother used to go along to watch and run the water on. When the warm-ups were taking place, we’d go into the clubhouse to see if we could see him in the photos on the wall.
“Me, my dad and my older brother Harry are all scrum-halves and we constantly played rugby against each other in the back garden.
“I was a mascot for Sale, for my 10th birthday, I walked out with Dean Schofield. All I wanted to do growing up was play for Sale.”