Despite a shambolic first half that saw Bath easily amass a 17-0 half-time lead and which contributed significantly to the home side's eventual bonus point victory, late tries from TJ Ioane and Johnny Leota ensured Sale left the Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon with two valuable bonus points as their hunt for a top-six place continued. Leota's touchdown against the bottom of the post with the clock dead - his second and his side's fourth of the day - clawed the Sharks back to a six point deficit which secured a resilient, if outclassed, team a pair of bonus points which, considering the dire opening to Saturday's game that saw Bath puncture the Sale defensive line with alarming ease, feels akin to a substantial victory. The result means Sale have gained seven points across the previous fortnight's home-and-home series with Bath and have now manoeuvred themselves past Northampton Saints to occupy 5th spot in the Premiership table. With a frankly dire first forty behind them, it was pleasing to see Sale respond with aplomb once the game restarted - Johnny Leota (his first) and Andrei Ostrikov barging over in quick succession to ensure the fixture would remain competitive. And despite clinical tries from Semesa Rokoduguni and Will Homer eventually putting the game beyond the Sharks' reach, Sale's attainment of two bonus points even in defeat could prove invaluable as they look to cement a spot in next season's Champions Cup. Observations:
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Thursday morning saw Sale Sharks announce Nottingham fly-half Dan Mugford as their seventh signing ahead of the 2016-17 Premiership season.
Mugford, 24, is an ex-Exeter academy prospect who also turned out for London Scottish and Plymouth Albion before joining Nottingham in 2014. First choice fly-half with the Championship club this season, Mugford has scored 93 points in 16 appearances, helping the East Midlands side to a comfortable seventh position in England's second tier. Having spent this morning scrambling to find any and all video analysis available on Mugford two things have stood out. First is that he has a wicked first step when attacking the line which helps open up gaps in opposition defences and buys him additional time in the pocket. Second is that he certainly has a big boot on him. I can't speak for his consistency off the tee but it would certainly appear Mugford is comfortable attempting kicks from on, or near, the half-way line, something departing fly-half Danny Cipriani has historically struggled with. However I will confess my immediate reaction to this signing was one of slight disappointment and indeed, confusion. With no definitive update on the status of Joe Ford - despite Mugford's arrival all but confirming the former will leave the club at the end of the season - Sale are in a strange position when it comes to the fly-half position. AJ MacGinty and Mugford will definitely be involved with the first team next season whilst Danny Cipriani and Nick Macleod definitely won't be. However should Ford leave at the end of the season that leaves Sale with MacGinty, Mugford and academy prospect Tom Morton as the Sharks' rotation at number 10 for the 2016-17 season. MacGinty, as I stressed in my piece on his arrival, is an intriguing prospect but certainly one that lacks the polish to immediately lead Sale to a comfortable position in the top-six; after all he only turned professional before the start of last season. However given the options currently at Sale's disposal, the American international is certainly the best placed to inherit Cipriani's vacant spot as the lynchpin of the Sharks' backline. Mugford then would appear to be a strange acquisition. Untested at the Premiership level, Mugford is akin to a MacGinty-lite - certainly talented with some impressive physical tools but far from the finished article, and not somebody who is going to immediately replicate the impact Cipriani has made for Sale over the past four seasons. Mugford is still an interesting player and as all Sale fans are aware, Steve Diamond is the market leader in finding players with unconventional paths to the Premiership before turning them into indispensable squad members. But I can't shake the feeling that Mugford would have made more sense had Sale signed a more renowned fly-half / back / playmaker to compete directly with MacGinty (Carlo Canna?), with Mugford then offering a rotation option and injury relief whilst being groomed concurrently for a larger role in later seasons. Time will tell whether Mugford is an upgrade on Joe Ford in the backup fly-half role and whilst this isn't a signing I hate, with the loss of Cipriani, a truly world-class attacking operator, I feel underwhelmed at the prospect of having two relatively untested fly-halves in MacGinty and Mugford as Sale's go-to options at such an important position next season. Either, or both, could come good in Manchester, but the signing of Mugford unfortunately does not placate fears that Sale will be unable to adequately replace the mercurial talents of Cipriani next season. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Despite blustery conditions, a struggling scrum and opposition who definitely have never breached the salary cap, Sale Sharks ensured their unbeaten streak at the AJ Bell continued (in the Premiership at least) with a clinical 29-17 bonus point win over Bath on Sunday afternoon. Well-taken tries from Vadim Cobilas and Will Addison had the league's smallest squad deservedly in front at the interval 17-9 before a nervy start to the second-half allowed Bath to tie things up on 56 minutes prompting fears of the formerly typical second forty collapse that the Sharks have largely eradicated this year. However the sin-binning of Dominic Day on 71 minutes for a cynical maul infringement and an injury to Kyle Eastmond - compounded by the visitors' lack of able replacement - brought Bath down to thirteen men for the final 10 minutes and the Sharks struck clinically, David Seymour and Mark Easter both going over to secure a warranted, if slightly fortuitous five-point win. The result means Sale (51 points) have leapfrogged Harlequins (50 points) into sixth place and the final European Champions Cup qualification place but whilst still retaining a game in hand (Bath away next weekend). The late season push for the top-table of European rugby is well and truly on. Observations
Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis, and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Player ratings, as we all know, are completely arbitrary and subjective, especially in rugby. But let's do some anyway. With over three-quarters of the 2015-16 Aviva Premiership season officially in the books and Sale's player recruitment for next season nearing its completion, let's take a retrospective look at the five players the Sharks signed for this year's campaign and evaluate how well they have fared in their first (or seventh) season in Manchester. Neil Briggs - B- When it was announced that Neil Briggs would be returning to Sale Sharks after five seasons away with Bourgoin, London Welsh and Leicester Tigers, in truth nobody anticipated the 30-year-old wrestling away the incumbent hooker spot from young front-row stalwart Tommy Taylor. With Marc Jones' departure to Bristol confirmed earlier that season, Briggs was brought in to serve as an experienced backup and mentor to the promising duo of Taylor and his (eventual) successor Cameron Neild. With those limited expectations as a measuring stick, it is fair to say Briggs has fulfilled his new role with aplomb. Whilst Briggs hasn't come remotely close to displacing Tommy Taylor for the no.2 jersey nor made an impact akin to Neild's stint at blindside flanker, the German-born hooker has been serviceable in the rare instances when Taylor - who I picked last week as Sale's most impressive and consistent performer this season - has been unable to finish the 80-minute slog. Briggs may not be as potent a striker of the ball as Taylor, nor as efficient a thrower, but for a backup hooker behind one of England's most promising talents, he's done a respectable job in relief - he's scrummaged well, revived his trademark intensity in the loose and kept Sale's lineout ticking along nicely. Nev Edwards - B More impressive than the feel-good story that saw him earn his first shot at Premiership rugby this season as a 27-year-old, Neville Edwards has made an admirable adjustment to life at the highest tier of the English game and transformed himself into an exciting but dependable third winger on the Sale roster. Despite some early season struggles which made Nev look worryingly out of place in a Premiership-calibre defensive line, one has to be impressed with the dedication the ex-Rosslyn Park flyer has shown to cement his place in the Sharks' first team by working on his tackling and positioning along with his blistering turn of pace that has seen him grab a handful of tries that only a select few of his Premiership colleagues could likewise have scored. It's unlikely Edwards will ever represent the British & Irish Lions but considering his late start to the professional game he's done a commendable job of working to make himself into a useful component in an increasingly methodical Sharks backline. Bryn Evans - A+ I waxed lyrical about Bryn Evans in last week's piece so for fear of repeating myself I will abridge my appreciation of the Kiwi lock below. Despite joining the Sharks in the summer as a low-key pickup following Biarritz's relegation from the Top 14, Evans has been an ideal - if not superior - replacement for last season's lineout captain Michael Paterson, served as one of the two main cogs in Sale's league-leading set-piece alongside the aforementioned Taylor and been the most consistent and efficient member of the Sharks pack, particularly important as he leads a diluted positional pool at lock. In short, Evans has been one of the standout performers in the entire Premiership this season and by extension, a clear leader in terms of who has been the Sharks' most important signing of the last year. Brian Mujati - C+ It has been a bit of an up-and-down campaign this season for Brian Mujati, albeit one that can be attributed to an effectively non-existent pre-season. At his best, the Zimbabwean prop has been a genuinely game-changing scrummager who has single-handedly ripped apart opposition packs whilst also showing a deft ability to burrow over the try-line from in-close. Conversely, at times this season Mujati has struggled with missed tackles and appeared slightly lacking in match fitness - again which can be put down to his delayed arrival in Manchester over the summer. With Vadim Cobilas moving on in the summer big things can be expected of Mujati next season when he steps in as Sale's incumbent tighthead. With a full pre-season to prepare himself, expect to see the flashes of scrummaging dominance become far more incessant. Peter Stringer - A* As with Bryn Evans, what was expected of Peter Stringer coming into the season has been far surpassed by his actual performances. In his first season at the club, the 38-year-old Stringer has transcended incumbent Chris Cusiter as Sale's first choice scrum-half by virtue of his week-to-week consistency and complimentary style of play alongside the offensively-minded Cipriani, but most impressive is that the former Irish international has also managed to sustain his performances despite being asked to play a number of 80-minute games in their entirety following Cusiter's concussion problems in recent weeks. Initially brought in as a replacement for Will Cliff (who also left for Bristol), Stringer has defied all expectations and proven once again that Steve Diamond is one of the savviest operators on the market in all of rugby. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis, and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Despite a valiant effort against a team with a budget over four times what the home side can muster, Sale Sharks' unbeaten record in all competitions at the AJ Bell Stadium this season came to a disappointing conclusion on Friday night having been well beaten, 25-19, by a Montpellier side that now look the favourites to win this year's European Challenge Cup. Tries from Tom Brady and Sam James, along with nine points from Danny Cipriani, were not enough to overcome Jake White's super side who clinically capitalised on their breakdown superiority and heavier pack with five second half penalties from Benoit Paillaugue to end Sale's dreams of European glory. The positive for Sale - aside from the pride they can take from running the 2nd best side in France closer than the scoreline indicated - is that they avoid having to travel down to Bath on Wednesday night with that match now taking place on the 23rd April as they look to reload and mount a final assault on the Premiership top-six. 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Whilst the Sharks can take a lot of pride from their performance on Friday night against a team of South African / French galácticos, the end of a truly remarkable home record was always going to cause disappointment. Still, with four fixtures left in the season, not only is Champions Cup qualification through a top-six finish attainable, so is ending the season as the only Premiership side unbeaten at home in the league. History, is still within the club's reach. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis, and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Ahead of next week's end-of-season award ceremony hosted by the Sale Sharks Supporters club, now is as good a time as any to step back from Sale's arduous late season run-in and assess which members of the Sharks' 2015/16 squad warrant individual recognition for their efforts over the last eight months. NB: The accolades discussed in this article will only reflect the awards on offer at the Supporters Club's event on April 26th. A more extensive assortment of prizes and analysis will follow once the season officially concludes in May. Player of the Year: Tommy Taylor A bittersweet choice considering his impending departure to Premiership rivals Wasps but to select anybody other than Sale's 24-year-old hooker for the player of the season gong would be resentment in its ugliest form. The most able and consistent performer at his position in the entire Premiership this season, Taylor was bizarrely overlooked for Eddie Jones' first England squad during the 2016 Six Nations but nevertheless was still able to complete his transition from a young domestic stalwart to an internationally-recognised hooker following a fully-deserved call up to the EPS for the last round of the tournament. The architect of Sale's league-leading set piece this season (both scrum and lineout), numerous column inches have been written applauding Taylor as the best striking hooker in the league whilst his metronomic throwing accuracy has also garnered him further attention from around the country. Furthermore, Taylor's devastating impact in the loose as a mobile and intelligent ball-carrier and an increasing commitment to jackaling at the breakdown has ensured there are no areas on the pitch that the ex-Macclesfield hooker/flanker cannot influence. Taylor has become a bona fide star player this season for Sale by any definition and therefore deserves to be crowned their all-round best performer. Best New Player: Bryn Evans When it was announced last year that fan favourite Michael Paterson would become the latest in the long line of talented players opting to leave Sale in search of greener pastures, an (at the time) seemingly irreplaceable hole was created in the centre of Sale's pack. Less than nine months later, Bryn Evans may have already exceeded his Kiwi countryman's (immense) contribution to the Sale Sharks. Nev Edwards is a wonderful story, Sam James has burst onto the scene in impressive fashion and Peter Stringer has delivered far more than what was expected of him upon signing with Sale, but the impact Evans has had, not only in replacing Paterson (and Nathan Hines), but in helping the aforementioned Tommy Taylor craft the most efficient set-piece in the Premiership whilst leading the shallowest area in the Sharks squad (lock) with an average playing time of 79 minutes a game is simply unbeatable. One of the signings of the season across the entire league. Outstanding Contribution to the Club: Vadim Cobilas What more can be said about what Vadim Cobilas has done for Sale Sharks? Going into last season as the only tighthead prop with Premiership experience in the entire squad, Vadim has been the cornerstone of the indomitable pack assembled by Steve Diamond ever since signing his first professional contract with the club back in 2011. Arguably the most glaring example of Diamond's perspicacious knowledge of how to craft a pack of forwards, over five years Cobilas has been transformed from an completely unknown quantity of Moldovan rugby into one of the most effective props in the entire Northern Hemisphere all whilst spending huge chunks of his Sale career without any form of relief by way of a backup prop. Not only has Cobilas been the most consistent tighthead in the Premiership for over three seasons now, the fact he forged this reputation playing close to 80 minutes each week is simply unparalleled in modern rugby. A cult hero at Sale, Vadim's decision to join Bordeaux in the summer was hugely disappointing but completely understandable; his legend will forever be remembered amongst the Sharks' faithful . Unsung Hero: Mike Haley As much as I wanted to also hand this award to Bryn Evans, I felt Mike Haley's achievements had to be recognised in some form. In the space of one season, Haley - who is still only 21-years-old - has gone from the talented but error-prone fullback who burst into the Sale first team last season into one of the most consistent but exciting and dangerous players Sale can field on any given week. Now a far more assured and confident kicker who has also learned to protect the ball (and himself) more effectively in contact, Haley's ability to cover the space behind the defensive line, hoist up attainable up-and-unders for his teammates and bring the ball back from deep to set up the next wave of Sale attack are all skills that are often taken for granted when watching the most talented of 15s, but Haley's poise and astute decision-making which has remained undeviating week-to-week this season must be applauded. Similar to Cobilas in 2014-15, the fact that Haley has performed so dependably with a multitude of full 80 minute performances without having a recognised backup behind him is a testament to his importance to the club, yet it is one that isn't appreciated nearly enough. A trip to South Africa with the England Saxons surely beckons. Hall of Fame: Dan Braid Perhaps the greatest captain Sale Sharks have had in the professional era but undeniably the catalyst for Sale's miraculous escape from relegation during the dark days of the 2012-13 season, Dan Braid is an indisputable choice for induction into the Sharks' Hall of Fame. A club legend forged in less than four seasons through unwavering leadership and rolling maul prowess, Braid's decision to join up with the Sharks' coaching staff for next season and beyond is one that will pay huge dividends for the club for years to come. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis, and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Sale Sharks continued their supposedly sudden spending spree on Thursday morning with the announcement that Connacht and USA Eagles fly-half Alan Junior 'AJ' MacGinty will be joining the club ahead of the 2016-17 season.
MacGinty, an American international with a remarkable 90 points in eight international tests, only signed his first professional deal (with Connacht) after impressing for the Red, White and Blue at last year's World Cup and is the first step Sale have taken to replace their outgoing incumbent Danny Cipriani, although it appears that a deal for another fly-half, or at least a 'playmaker' is in the off. Who the mystery fly-half/playmaker emerges to be however should ultimately shape the expectations placed on MacGinty's shoulders for next season. Right now it is unclear whether MacGinty will slot in as Sale's first choice fly-half next season or whether, should an even higher profile five-eight be signed, he'll be asked to provide relief and cover off the bench. Ideally MacGinty would be the 1B to a Toby Flood or Owen Williams 1A, giving Sale a strong option off the bench to close out games whilst offering a solid stand off option when squad rotation is made necessary over the course of the season. But regardless of the Sharks' future transfer dealings we shouldn't underestimate the capture of MacGinty; he might not quite match the star appeal of the departing Cipriani but he has an intriguing skillset which should fit in well with Paul Deacon's simplified, league-esque attacking system and with a bit of polishing could become yet another of Steve's Diamonds In The Rough™. Although it was only an early season injury to Jack Carty which offered MacGinty the prominent role he has enjoyed with Connacht this season, 'Adge' has taken his chance superbly, guiding the province to a surprise run at the summit of this year's Pro 12 table and overseeing the competition's most lethal attack to boot. Playing alongside a dynamic offensive arsenal which includes Bundee Aki, Matt Healy and Robbie Henshaw, MacGinty has shown himself to not only be a smart and efficient distributor that has kept the attacking options outside him consistently supplied with try-scoring opportunities, but also as a ten not afraid to attack the line himself, particularly useful considering his above average off-loading ability which further creates openings for his teammates. If Deacon can get him playing as flatly as Cipriani has this season for Sale, MacGinty should thrive as the main facilitator creating space for the likes of Will Addison, Sam James, and Josh Charnley to really make their mark on games. And although he's not always been Connacht's first choice kicker this year, MacGinty's solid conversion rate of approximately 80% over the last year (both internationally and domestically) should bring some stability to what has been a tumultuous place-kicking experience for the Sharks in 2015/16. In short, although MacGinty isn't the star name many have linked to Sale in the previous two months, he looks to be a solid and dependable player akin to a Gareth Steenson - someone who can play territory, hold his own in the defensive line and control the game for the attacking talent around him to capitalise on. His potential may even extend further considering the superb season he's having in the Pro 12 despite only being a year removed from playing rugby semi-professional for a private university stateside; once firmly embedded in Paul Deacon and Steve Diamond's system and playing behind what looks to be a monstrous pack next season, MacGinty could rapidly turn into a star performer for the Sharks. And even if Sale do eventually pen a deal with Rhys Priestland or Stephen Myler or whomever else, at worst MacGinty is a significant upgrade on the depth the Sharks currently have at fly-half. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis, and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. |
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