Eagle has landed to give Sharks a boost
TEN years ago, AJ MacGinty was serving drinks to corporate types into the early hours at the Pig & Whistle Irish bar on 3rd Avenue in New York.
Now the US Eagle is the one suited and booted and hoping to give Racing 92 a more sobering experience by helping Sale Sharks into the semi-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time.
The 32-year-old hopes that lessons have been learned from last season’s defeat at the same stage of the competition when they were swept aside by La Rochelle in the second half to lose 45-21, after only trailing by two points at the break.
“The first half we actually started pretty well and had them under pressure and we let them out and the tries we gave away were very, very soft,” the Bristol-bound fly-half recalled.
“That’s the biggest thing – the intensity that comes with a quarter-final and the players that you play against, the quality is so high and you really have to take your chances.
“With the opposition we are coming up against this weekend, if you lapse for a split second they can punish you, that’s how dangerous they are. It is about going after them together and shutting down the space.
“I think the boys took a lot of learnings from that game. Personally, I got the note pad out this week and looked at what our takeaways were from that game, and it was definitely one that hurt a lot.
“I remember the atmosphere, everyone was fired up and the intensity was so high. We came out there, and much like a bull, we pretty much saw red, and then didn’t have any joy and kind of fell away.”
In the build-up to the clash at the La Defense Arena, Sale have employed the services of Manchester-based neuropsychologist, Andy McCann, to help get them in the right mindset, to not only combat the likes of Gael Fickou and Finn Russell, but the unique environment the Sharks will find themselves in.
The indoor stadium boasts a huge indoor screen and hosts a music and light show like no other in the rugby world.
“Both teams will throw everything they have at each other, and we mustn’t get disheartened if we don’t score straight away,” said MacGinty, who has recovered from the ankle injury that’s kept him out since mid-March. “There has been plenty of work that has gone on behind the scenes on the mental side of scenarios that happen in games. “That’s probably the biggest learning (from last year) in that we were very hard on ourselves when things didn’t go well or we did something well and we didn’t get a reward for it. “But that’s just how it is at the very top level when you play these brilliant teams, you just have to try and get back into the cycle, into the flow of it and the rhythm of the game.”
For Sale’s departing players like MacGinty and Springbok duo Lood de Jager, left, and Faf de Klerk leading the club into previously unchartered European waters would be a fitting way to bow out.
MacGinty doesn’t hesitate to say it would be the biggest win of his sixseason Sale career if they beat the three-time Champions Cup runners-up.
“Yeah, definitely, taking the side to a Champions Cup semi-final would be the biggest step so far. For all of us it is a huge game in what it would do for the club and the fans,” he said.
“I don’t really look into who’s favourites and who’s underdogs. With the names and stars they’ve got and with playing at home, they’ll be fancied. But I know the lads well and how they look at the game, and I know they’ll relish the occasion.
“It’s about how we perform as a team, we can’t play as individuals. When it gets a bit chaotic and they get on the front foot or have these incredible moments of skill, we mustn’t fall away or fall apart but welcome the challenge.”
MacGinty’s graduation from Life University in the States to accomplished Test fly-half has been welldocumented on these pages, but MacGinty took a brief moment to take stock this week and let the magnitude of his journey sink in.
“This time 10 years ago I was living in New York and working in a bar with my mates and deciding what I wanted to do at the end of my one-year visa.
“My dad said I needed to get out of the pub and focus on my studies, and an opportunity came up to go to Atlanta and play rugby and study.”
From that ‘last chance saloon’ piece of advice, MacGinty has made the most of his rugby talent and is now looking forward to mixing it with one of Europe’s best teams.
“There is a real sense of excitement and enthusiasm. The buzz is very good and we’ll embrace that underdog mentality.”