"Meteoric" – Praise for England break-out prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour as Sale Sharks triumph over Leicester Tigers

12/02/2024 07:02 AM

By Charlie Elliott

Following a surprisingly comprehensive Sale Sharks win over Leicester Tigers, there have been inquests made into how this result came to be. With European fixtures around the corner winning in the Premiership is crucial for gaining traction. 

Here are five talking points from Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers. 

1. Sanderson aiming for Semi Final 

After putting an end to the recent poor form in the league before the Autumn break, Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson looked forward to the rest of the season and focused one a statistic that he saw that said that his side have a 9% chance of finishing in the top four. 

"Statistically speaking, we have a 9% chance of reaching the semifinals, so hopefully the odds will change somewhat in our favor after that result, but who knows?" 

2. New kicking laws have benefited Sale 

Sale had a much improved second half and absolutely ran the show. Speaking about what was said at half time Sanderson admitted that there wasn't much in terms of motivation but spoke about a few tweaks that were made that clearly went a long way when looking at the final scoreline. 

"We had the fixes on the field, so there’s no point in talking about what we could have done better. Let’s talk about how we’re going to win the second half. 

"With the kicking laws and the wind, it was around scraps, can we win more scraps? Which we did. And then coming alive on that transition, which we did. 

"Then defensively just about making sure those second efforts we either tackle roll or tackle fire and do it repeatedly." 

3. 'Meteoric' rise for Asher Opoku-Fordjour 

After getting his first senior try and his first international cap within the space of a week, the Sale director of rugby spoke about Asher Opoku-Fordjour and his recent rise, acknowledging that there is some work that needs to be done to keep in grounded and to help him out mentally after such a recent rise. 

"He said he felt sharp, and he looked it. As I said in the past, I think it’s important that we look after and protect him to a degree because he’s going to have a crash at some point. 

"So we’ve got a plan for him over the next couple of weeks." 

Speaking about the impact of a sudden England callup onto him, Sanderson said: 
"Harder than it would if you actually been in the frame and built up to it and suffered a bit of rejection. He hasn’t had any either.  

"It’s just been meteoric." 

4. Time off not an excuse for Tigers 

It would have been easy for Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika to have blamed the long break for ruining his sides momentum following an upturn in form before the Autumn, but he insisted that this was not an excuse and in fact the break could and should have benefited Tigers more. 

"No excuses, I don't think there's an excuse mentality at all. It's about what is required in this section of the competition.  

"What got us here in the first block is not what is going to get us there in the second block. 

"It can be a positive thing for us to understand that there is another level that we need to go up and be regular at." 

5. Attacking principles changed for Sale 

The recent talk around the Sharks camp is the promotion of Byron McGuigan to defence coach, which led to a stronger defensive structure as seen in the win against Leicester. What stood out most though was the attacking freedom that Sale seemed to play with, something which hasn't been the case for much of the season. When asked about this Alex Sanderson said. 

"We've shifted our language and our principles and the breakdown. 

"So I’ve stepped in there because I wanted to get back on the field and get close to the boys. 

"If you know that you've got it in your back pocket to defend wherever and whenever, to be solid, it frees you up in attack before you're not too nervous to turn the ball over and snatching at passes and those kinds of things. 

"I think one bleeds into the other." 

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