Quirke delivers a compelling case for England recall
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson believes scrumhalf Raffi Quirke can make an irresistible case for an England recall after his impressive return from injury in his side’s 26-16 win at Leicester.
Quirke, who earned his first two international caps in last year’s Autumn Nations Series, came off the bench at half-time for what was his first appearance in six months following a torn hamstring.
He quickly set up a try for Tom Curry before scoring one himself as Sale came from behind to make it four league wins out of four this season and move top of the Gallagher Premiership.
Sanderson said: “He was on fire, wasn’t he? He scored tries, he stopped tries, he set up tries – he was a one-man try machine on both sides of the ball.
“I’m chuffed for him. It’s been frustrating for him, the last 12 months, he hasn’t played much for us.
“He’s got big ambitions, hasn’t he? He’s got another couple of games to show what he can do and hopefully get himself into that Autumn Internationals squad, but if Eddie (Jones) is watching that, it’s going to be difficult to keep him out.
“The only way you get to play for your country is to play well consistently for your club, so we’ll try to bring it back and simplify it again.
“Because he got a taste of it this time last year, he’s got more than a taste now, he’s got a thirst and he’s super-keen to showcase what he can do.”
Despite tries by Tom Roebuck and Rob du Preez, Sale trailed 16-12 at half-time thanks to Jasper Wiese’s score adding to three Freddie Burns penalties for Leicester.
But the Sharks hit back with two tries in four minutes in the early stages of the second half to inflict on the Tigers their first home defeat in the Premiership since June 2021.
Their head coach Steve Borthwick said: “It was a pretty hard-fought game for a long time.
“I think we had two teams who were pretty well matched for a large part, probably in the first half we were disappointed we didn’t score more points when we were down there.
“We were disappointed with how easily they scored – to go 16-5 up and then concede immediately was pretty disappointing.
“The period of play that was really the difference in the game was after half-time, where immediately they had a couple of chances and took them well.
“We had two or three people making their first starts of the season today. We always knew that was going to be the case, with the amount of internationals we had away in the summer, and we’ve just got to work through it and keep improving.”
▪ Bath’s search for their first win of the season continues after their forward-led fightback fell agonisingly short in a 21-17 Gallagher Premiership defeat to Gloucester.
Trailing 14-0 and 21-7 at the Recreation Ground, Bath went on to dominate a compelling second half, but having crossed through Tom Dunn and Niall Annett, they could not finish off their west country rivals.
Two missed conversions from replacement fly-half Orlando Bailey ultimately proved the difference, with Adam Hastings nailing all three of his in a match that produced a try count of 3-3.
Ollie Lawrence made a strong debut following his loan move from relegated crisis club Worcester, providing some of the punch Bath have lacked from their carriers so far this season.
But despite perfect conditions for enterprising rugby, the afternoon was dominated by the two packs and all six tries were scored by forwards.