Our Investec Champions Cup campaign is well underway and after a tough trip to URC champions Glasgow Warriors and a home clash with French giants Racing 92, Your Sharks lie in fourth place in the pool 4 table, behind Toulon, Glasgow and Harlequins.
Qualification for the knockout stage now hinges on a tricky assignment in Cape Town against the DHL Stormers and a final pool stage game against Lewis Ludlam, Kyle Sinckler and their Toulon team.
The Story so far…
We kicked off this season’s Champions Cup at the Scotstoun Stadium against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday 7th December but a first half onslaught from the URC champions left Al’s men facing an uphill task in the second half.
A first half hat-trick from Scotland scrum-half George Horne, plus tries from Kyle Rowe and Huw Jones, left us 33-12 down at half time. A penalty try and one from Arron Reed were all we had to show for our first 40 efforts.
After the break, Joe Carpenter crossed to give Your Sharks hope, but a late Scott Cummings score sealed a 38-19 win for Franco Smith’s side.
Alex Sanderson’s reaction:
He said: “The first 20 minutes came to a point a minute. It was a bit of a tumble dryer there. We’ve come to win, not just compete and we were far from that tonight, particularly in that first half.
“It was pretty obvious tonight, [that] this competition is as close to Test match intensity you can get. That intensity is raised in the collisions and we lost too many. Ultimately, we paid the price for it.
“[A bonus point] would have been a consolation, you pick up a bonus point and win your home games and it’s probably enough to go through.
“If you’re hoping for bonus points away from home, you never really have aspirations to win. We’ve got to be better. We weren’t at the races in that first half. We’ve got to reframe quickly.”
Round two of the pool stage saw us host Racing 92 at the Salford Stadium on Friday 13th December. Homegrown favourite Sam James returned for the first time since leaving Sale to join Racing in the summer, and England stars Ben Curry, George Ford, Tom Roebuck and Luke Cowan-Dickie all returned after missing the defeat in Glasgow.
Tries from Jean-Luc du Preez and Roebuck helped us to a 12-7 half-time lead in what was a tetchy first-half. But after the break, Your Sharks stepped on the gas and further tries from Joe Carpenter and Ben Curry saw us run out comfortable 29-7 winners.
Alex Sanderson’s reaction:
He said: “We just wanted to be on it for longer defensively this week. I think we were, that was one of our best defensive performances.
“We are a little more connected and we have a little more bite to us when the collision comes, when we have to ‘find the monster’. We were lacking some bite, and I feel like we have it back.”
Player of the match Ben Curry said: ”My favourite moment was Tom Roebuck’s tackle on Henry Arundell. Henry is not a small boy, a great player, but I was very impressed with Roebuck tonight, he showed a different side of him which perhaps coaches have questioned. I was really happy for him.
“The work he puts in day in and day out doesn’t get seen. He is knocking on the door.
“He was very disappointed after the summer – he came on against Japan and played really well and to get dropped, hit him really hard.
“You can start feeling sorry for yourself or you can show people what you can do. He has gone multiple steps forward since the summer.”
UPCOMING MATCHES
DHL Stormers v Sale Sharks
Saturday 11th January, 1pm KO (UK time)
DHL Stadium, Cape Town – click here to find out how to get there
Sale Sharks v RC Toulon
Sunday 19th January, 5.30pm KO
Salford Community Stadium
GET HALF PRICE TICKETS TO THIS GAME WITH OUR BLACK FRIDAY OFFER!