'Smorgasbord of Curry and du Preez' – Alex Sanderson: Sale Sharks have all brothers primed and ready for Newcastle Falcons derby
10/09/2024 06:47 AM
By Charlie Elliot
Sale Sharks host bottom of the table Newcastle Falcons on Friday following an impressive 31-27 victory against attacking Gloucester. Newcastle are yet to get a point this season, meanwhile Sale have won two of their three games so far, currently occupying sixth place, only three points behind second place.
Following the difficult start that Sale have had as a result of key injuries, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson was pleased to announce that some key players would be back:
"The whole du Preez compliment, that’s how we want to describe it, and the Curry compliment, the smorgasbord that is Curry and du Preez, will be involved in the squad this weekend, that is really exciting – first time in a year and a half."
Sanderson stated that there were no new injuries after the weekend, and just a few 'bumps and bruises', apart from Will Addison who had to come off with an eye injury against Gloucester, it is unclear whether this will affect his availability.
He also added that he does not want to give too much away with regards to team selection, however the one guarantee he gave regarding starters was that Arron Reed would be starting the game. Reed’s impressive game was summed up by one of the great defensive plays in recent history, chasing back to stop two Gloucester players who were bearing down on the try-line.
Talking about Reed's performance against Gloucester, Sanderson said:
"That’s the best he’s played, should’ve started him in the first game, might’ve scored more tries! He’s been pretty stiff since. We know Arron, he’s got pace, finishing ability, got a bit of X factor, he showed that in the try we scored from the maul, but I don’t think that was the best part of his game, I thought defensively, he was everywhere, chased every kick, chased back on every line break.
"I think I’m right in referring to his post-match interview, he based his performance around effort, that being part of the DNA and that’s what we do. We’ve got a player of that skill, whose X factor is speed, and he’s talking about working hard. Culturally, in terms of Arron, you know they’re on the right track and singing from the song sheet that I’d hope they’d sing from. "
Sale Back row Sam Dugdale was shown to yellow cards in Sale’s latest outing, with the flanker given his marching orders in the win over Gloucester. However, Dugdale will not miss out on Saturday’s match, with the sending off being the extent of the punishment. Talking about Dugdale's development, Sanderson also said:
"I’m going to set him up with Jacques (Burger), I haven’t spoken to him for a while but I still have his number in my phone so I’mgoing to set him up with him and we’ll take it from there. He’s a good person to mould him on, rather than anyone in the Premiership, looking for someone who’s internationally recognised."
Alex Sanderson continued to speak glowingly about his players, this time reflecting on Sam Bedlow and his recent performances:
"He had those couple of early carries, the second one really dented them and set us up for the second try, the beautiful try that Roebuck broke and gave the inside pass.
"Then in the second half they’re so worried about his physicality in the line.
"He had it both ends, but physicality set him up for the out-the-back pass in the second half, so was really impressed with Sam, and it wasn’t an easy day for him for the reason of Liam Canning passing away the week before, he had to work hard to not be over emotional, which he probably was a bit the week before against Sarries. This week he got it just right."
Following the previous victory, Sanderson was very positive about his team and the place they are in right now:
"It’s the same forward pack that competed and played well last Christmas but lost the majority of games. They’re a year on now, now they’re winning, or at least they won on Friday, so it shows the distance travelled with that group and the strength in depth that we’ve got."
However, the Sale Director of Rugby was quick to brush off suggestions of complacency, after the win against the Cherry and Whites.
"You can manifest it. You just have to stay away from it and elevate yourself above it. You can see it in training, are you prepared in the week? You can see it in the language.
"Off the back of a good performance and a good result, teams take a collective breath and you lose the fear. We don’t really have that because we’ve got a lot of lads coming back in, those coming back in have been watching those playing the other weekend and they know that they’ve got to step up.
“We talked about backing up and raising the levels of energy and excitement, and physicality and the work that comes off the back of those feelings. They’ve said that after training yesterday, so I’m really happy with that.
"If I’ve got to stop training or start pulling them in because the intensity is not there, or if they’re talking about outcomes early in the week as opposed to intent, then I’ve got issues, but I haven’t had to go there yet. So very happy about that."
Sanderson rounded off by addressing Newcastle’s fighting spirit, and the need to match their effort in the Northern derby.
"They’re already talking survival, food on plates, roofs over heads, so we’ve got to match them there.
"We’ll dig into mentality, and make sure that our purpose, and what’s driving us and what’s helping us dig deep is on par if not better than Newcastle’s, which it has to be."
