Since the title-winning season of 2005-06, it is fair to say Sale Sharks have never come close to repeating the glitzy heights enjoyed by Chabal, Hodgson, Robinson and others. Incrementally decreasing financial investment from owner Brian Kennedy (who lost his vigour for North-West rugby after injury prematurely ended the career of his son Jonny in 2011), colluded with the emergence of new powers in the domestic game such as Saracens and Exeter, and Sale rapidly found themselves as one of the ‘have-nots’ of the Premiership. Indeed, Sale have spent much of the last decade stuck in rugby purgatory. Backed by one of the strongest academy pipelines in European rugby, the Sharks have never particularly found themselves in danger of relegation (a woeful first half of the 2012-13 season aside) but concurrently have never enjoyed the strength in depth necessary to mount a consistent and sustained challenge on the Premiership top-six and four. In the years in which Sale – who have held the ingenious title of lowest club payroll for the last four Premiership seasons – were able to sneak into the top-six and secure European Champions Cup Rugby (2015-16, 2013-14, 2011-12), the additional strain on a threadbare squad saw them finish 10th in two of the subsequent years and 7th in 2014-15. The issue was thus: even with a lack of capital to attract the international superstars the teams around them were recruiting, Sale, with a squad built-on emerging academy talent and a number of cheap, shrewd acquisitions from all corners of the globe, had proven themselves at worst a lower mid-table Premiership side. However, to advance as a club, the team desperately needed a (hitherto mythical) money tree to build a squad that would allow them to genuinely compete on two fronts and ensure the gains made by European Champions Cup qualification did not compound their domestic campaign the season after. Enter Simon Orange and Ged Mason. In June of last year, Sale Sharks announced that a takeover deal by North-West business consortium CorpAcq had been completed with promises of renewed financial investment into the playing squad to buttress and augment the existing spine of players who had graduated from the academy. The new owners and ever-present Director of Rugby Steve Diamond tactfully announced they weren’t going to waste money building an inherently unsustainable Galacticos side – as evinced by their refusal to fork over the wage demands of Kyle Eastmond later that summer – but instead carefully recruit top-class players in positions the academy had not been able to fill. Most Sale fans, myself included, were sceptical that this brain trust would come good on their promises. After all, this was coming from a club whose promises of two “top-class international signings” in early 2014 turned out to be the 38-year-old Peter Stringer and an All Black capped twice in 2009, Bryn Evans (that both turned out to be astute signings doesn’t undermine the point the club has long had a problem managing supporter expectations). And for a long time, the communal scepticism went untreated. Promises of current tier 1 internationals failed to materialise for months whilst Sale’s closest competitors – Gloucester, Newcastle, Harlequins etc. – all strengthened considerably. The situation was compounded further when the first signings made under Sale’s new regime were the rather underwhelming pair of Will Cliff and Marc Jones, two players who had left the Sharks two seasons ago to join a promoted Bristol and would be re-joining the club having not been offered new contracts at the relegated West Country club. Then, out of the blue, BBC Scotland broke the news that the club had agreed a deal to sign Scottish international No.8 Josh Strauss. The club quickly confirmed and Sale, having beat off the interest of a number of Premiership clubs, announced their most impressive signing since the returning mercurial talent of Danny Cipriani back in 2012. What followed were a number of impressive low-key additions to bulk out the team’s previously shallow depth. Well-regarded South African forward Jono Ross was handed a lifeline from the all-encompassing turmoil surrounding Parisian side Stade Français and became the second South African back-rower (Strauss was born in the Western Cape) to join Sale ahead of 2017-18. The club then bolstered their front-row depth with the addition of Alexandru Tarus, an international tighthead from a country renowned for its scrummaging prowess (Romania) and WillGriff John, another prop who turned heads in the Championship for Doncaster this season. Then came the news that indicated Sale were finally back in the big time. After months of rumours, whispers and a bizarre statement from the club, Sale announced they had signed two talents that, in previous years, supporters could only dream about – Springbok scrum-half Faf de Klerk and Australian international fly-half/centre/winger/fullback James O’Connor. The signings of de Klerk and O’Connor not only addressed significant flaws in Sale’s squad composition i.e. a lack of an elite-level scrum-half and inside centre, but also served as firm signals that the club once again have the financial might to attract the calibre of player to make a sustained run both domestically and in Europe. Sale should not be expected to make a jump from 10th to top-four contenders this season; de Klerk will likely only arrive at the club in late September and Diamond has the (positive) issue of finding where James O’Connor best fits in the incumbent Sale backline. A 10-12 axis of AJ MacGinty and O’Connor would offer Sale a dynamic midfield combination, but if Josh Charnley continues to struggle to acclimatise to the 15-man game, Sale’s most pressing vacancy might see O’Connor start his Sale career in the No.11 shirt. But for the first time in over a decade Sale are trending upwards – and have the infrastructure and resources to stay there. de Klerk, O’Connor and Strauss are the marquee names the club has long sought to bolster both their standing on and off the field, Ross, Tarus, Cliff, Jones and John are strong pickups to supplement the club’s depth and provide competition in positions that have long lacked competitiveness. And as is the norm in the North-West, the latest crop of academy talent including recent English callups Ben and Tom Curry, Sam James, Josh Beaumont, Mike Haley, Ross Harrison and a bevy of others including Cameron Neild, Mark Jennings and Will Addison, are an exciting spine for a club that, pleasantly, is no longer solely dependant on its academy to flourish as a Premiership club.
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Two down, three to go. The busiest day of Sale’s season off the pitch thus far took place Tuesday with a trifecta of announcements. First, Sale announced that Lock Andrei Ostrikov had re-signed with the club on a two-year-extension, in a deal that will keep him at the club until summer 2019 at the latest. Two hours later, scrum-half Mike Phillips formally announced his retirement from professional rugby with his solitary season with Sale ultimately proving his last in the game. Not content to finish the day on a low note however, Sale then revealed that they have signed Stade Français Flanker/Number Eight Jono Ross on a three-year-contract. Got all that? Great, let’s start with Ostrikov. Ostrikov’s contract status has been ambiguous for a number of seasons so whilst a potential departure from the club hasn’t been mooted this season, the news that he has extended his time with the club is welcome nonetheless. Ostrikov was one of Steve Diamond’s first signings upon the latter’s return to Sale Sharks and, because of his late start to professional rugby, Ostrikov’s influence on the Sale pack has only grown incrementally season-upon-season. However, now 29 and set to enter his seventh and eight seasons at the club, re-signing Ostrikov is an astute move. With both himself, Bryn Evans, George Nott and Josh Beaumont all signed with the club until 2019 at least, Sale now have the luxury of utilising a consistent pairing/rotation at second row, a consistency lost in recent years because of the substantial turnover at lock the Sharks have endured. Furthermore, with the immediate future of fellow Lock Jonathan Mills still unresolved and Josh Beaumont likely moving to Lock full-time from next season (more on that momentarily), ensuring Ostrikov remained a Shark was pivotal since he is the closest thing to a second row ‘enforcer’ Sale currently have on their books. Whilst Ostrikov’s game isn’t akin to say, Jim Hamilton’s, his considerable physicality and weight should continue to offset the more athletic and lightweight locks he’ll be rotated with over the next two seasons. Regardless of what happens with Mills, by re-signing Ostrikov Sale can now go into next season confident they have at least four Premiership-calibre locks (Evans, Ostrikov, Beaumont and Nott) on their books capable of handling the rigours of a full Premiership season. Indeed it is with an eye on Sale’s second row depth next season that we should interpret the club’s other signing of the day - Jono Ross. Let’s get this out of the way first - Jono Ross is a superb signing. A three-year contract for a 26-year-old South African flanker capable of playing number eight is an impressive coup in of itself, especially since Sale have been able to capitalise on the uncertainty surrounding Stade Français post-failed merger and get Stade and Ross to agree to end the player’s contract three years early! Simply put, such a move should be seen as a glaring indication of Sale’s newfound financial muscle and ambition. But equally impressive is that in Ross, Sale have found another player who will fix two of their most pressing on-field issues from this season. Linking up with fellow South African Josh Strauss, Ross will help the Sharks overcome their lack of ball-carrying prowess in the back-five, and bring the on-field leadership and direction Sale have lacked at times in 2016-17, having captained both Stade Français and the Blue Bulls from an early age. If nothing else, Sale have managed to lure an extremely talented player in his prime out from a lucrative contract in France and add another player to their growing collection of players harbouring serious England international ambitions (Ross’ grandmother is English and he is from an English-speaking community in South Africa). But in addressing the bigger picture, the addition of Ross and Strauss all but seals a full-time move to Lock for Josh Beaumont. Regardless of how Ross and Strauss are rotated between blindside flanker and Number Eight next season (both are capable of playing either position), one imagines the tactical decision to sign two backrowers rather than add another lock ahead of 2017-18 indicates Diamond envisions Beaumont making a full transition to play Lock from next season onwards. Truthfully, looking at the squad as currently constructed, this is a shrewd move to make since it ensures Sale’s three best ball-carriers are on the field together at the same time, with Beaumont (and Ross) also able to cover Strauss at No.8 when the latter is on international duty with Scotland and Sale’s lineout efficiency not threatened by omitting Beaumont from the starting lineup. Indications made by England coach Eddie Jones meanwhile suggest the England national setup (of which Beaumont is currently on the periphery) also see Beaumont’s international future in the second, as opposed to the back row. Beaumont’s move there full-time therefore is a pragmatic decision on both the player and club’s part since it increases Beaumont’s chances of future England recognition as the national team begins to transition in personnel towards the 2019 World Cup. Whilst the jury is still out on whether Beaumont can be as effective at Lock as he has been at No.8 for Sale over the last three seasons – with an expectation that he will have to add weight in order to more successfully anchor the Sale pack during scrums – Beaumont has the prerequisite athleticism and size to press his case as an international-calibre lock. But his transition to the second row, in addition to re-signing Ostrikov and the signings of Strauss and now Jono Ross, should facilitate a more rounded, mobile and assertive Sale pack for next season, one that will hopefully compliment the star backline additions the Sharks are now eying to re-assert themselves as a top-six Premiership team. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks As first revealed (sort of) by The Shark Tank on Sunday morning, Sale have completed the signing of Romanian international prop Alexandru Țăruș on a two-year-contract, the club announced Monday afternoon. Țăruș, a specialist tighthead but also capable of playing at loosehead, has been capped sixteen times by the Mighty Oaks, featuring in both the 2015 World Cup and Romania’s victorious 2017 Rugby Europe Championship campaign in which Țăruș started at tighthead in the pivotal deciding fixture against Georgia. Țăruș will move to the Sharks from Béziers in the French ProD2 where he has spent the 2016-17 season after stints with Bucharest Wolves and Timișoara Saracens. Truthfully, neither I nor many non-Romanian rugby fans will know quite what to expect from the signing of Țăruș, but the 27-year-old’s credentials earmark him as another low-key pickup with the potential to become a pack cornerstone in the mould of former fan favourite Vadim Cobilas. Standing at a shade over 6ft and tipping the scales at 19st 7lbs, Țăruș will certainly bring the physicality and ballast necessary for a Sale pack next year whose preferred second row pairing could prove mobile but relatively lightweight and which will require a powerful front-row to give the team a crucial platform at the set-piece. As the starting international tighthead for a country renowned for its scrummaging conveyor belt, it is at the scrum where Țăruș’ influence should immediately be felt and any impact he can make as a ball-carrier in the loose would be – in his first season in England at least – an added bonus. But the signing of Țăruș is a welcome move given there are big questions over Sale’s current duo at the position. Whilst Halani Aulika has proven a shrewd pickup from relegated London Irish - especially for his powerful ball-carrying – the Tongan’s discipline, particularly in giving away penalties in open play, has been a blemish on an otherwise impressive first season in Manchester. Yet despite Aulika’s struggles with indiscipline, Steve Diamond has been reluctant to trust fellow tighthead Kieran Longbottom with any greater in-game responsibilities than spot starts in the LV Cup and occasional short relief appearances at the tail end of Premiership games. Although this could be understandable given Longbottom’s near two-years of foot-related injury problems, the signing of Țăruș indicates Sale are looking for more active competition at tighthead, an appropriate decision given that at 34 Aulika shouldn’t be expected to continue logging around 70 minutes per week in Premiership competition and who cannot be considered Sale’s long-term future at the position. Whether Țăruș comes in and immediately makes the starting tighthead jersey his own at this juncture predominately depends on how all three first-team props train over the summer as Sale re-asses their immediate and long-term options at tighthead. But it is entirely plausible Sale are hoping to see Țăruș develop along a similar path as that of former stalwart Cobilas, who, after being plucked from relatively anonymity, quickly became one of the best all-round tighthead props in the entire Premiership after a year or two in development. Țăruș undoubtedly has the necessary pedigree and physical attributes to eventually replicate his fellow Eastern European’s dominance in the Premiership. However, having been signed to a two-year contract, one would expect Țăruș, as a Tier 2 international with additional experience in the French domestic leagues, to play a more integral role in Sale’s 2017-18 campaign than Cobilas did in his first season in England, since the latter had only played professional rugby exclusively in Russia prior to joining the Sharks. But as a low-risk, high-reward move, this is a very enticing pickup by Sale. Whilst the Sharks, flush with cash under the new ownership, continue to look to make a high-profile, big-money splash in the market, it could be the relatively inexpensive signings such as Țăruș that ultimately hit paydirt. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks.
In a marked departure from the usual method of announcing incoming players, Sale picked 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, after months of radio silence, to finally publicise the news that Will Cliff and Marc Jones will be re-joining the club on two-year-contracts ahead of the 2017-18 season.
Given that a large segment of fans have been publicly frustrated about Sale’s apparent lack of transfer activity, specifically with regard to the “four or five world-class signings” Steve Diamond suggested the club will look to bring in to boost the club after a disappointing 2016-17 season, the news that the ex-Sharks hooker and scrum-half will be joining up with the club next season is underwhelming to say the least. The signings themselves are peculiar and shouldn’t receive a passing grade just because they’re two former players ‘returning home’ as the official press release states. Whilst Will Cliff theoretically fills one of the two scrum-half spots presumably set to be vacated by Peter Stringer and Mike Phillips’ retirements, Cliff doesn’t constitute a clear upgrade on either and has often found himself outside of the matchday 23 for Bristol this season, a team likely to be relegated from the Premiership in two months’ time. Cliff is a serviceable (re-)signing if his primary role is as a Challenge Cup spot starter and a backup for a more dynamic incoming scrum-half, but he unequivocally cannot be expected to be the impetus for Sale’s (hopeful) return to the top-six. One hopes this does not constitute the end of Sale’s half-back recruitment. Meanwhile, whilst Jones is an objectively better player at his respective position and was a more significant loss for Sale when both announced their intention to leave the club, his signing comes at one of the few positions Sale have an impressive level of Premiership-calibre depth. Even if, as suggested, Neil Briggs is set to retire from active duty to take up a role as an academy coach, at hooker Sale already have Rob Webber who has proven this season to have been an astute pickup and will go into next season as the team’s incumbent and Cameron Neild (who signed a four-year contract extension at the beginning of the season) who has often reiterated his desire to convert to hooker in the long-term. Sale also have current England U20 hooker Curtis Langdon coming through the academy who will also factor into the club’s long-term plans. Jones’ experience and physicality will be welcomed back into the Sharks’ fold in a backup role, especially it indicates that Webber will no longer be forced to play close to 80 minutes each week as he is currently. But whilst adding depth to a squad so frequently ravaged by a lack of serviceable Premiership options is always a plus, it comes with the caveat that Jones’ return will stunt Langdon’s development at the ages in which he will be expected to begin breaking into the first team (20 and 21), and also keeps Neild in a crowded Sharks backrow. How the coaching staff manage all four talented players will be instrumental in ultimately determining whether adding Jones was an unnecessary move. Indeed, these signings indicate a level of desperateness on Sale’s behalf. Neither come remotely close to the ‘world-class’ moniker touted by Diamond and given how well Sale have coped in the two seasons since their respective departures, Dimes’ eagerness to bring both back is puzzling. Instead their re-signings is perhaps more indicative of Dimes’ resentment in having originally lost both players to larger contract offers at Bristol and despite now theoretically having the means to lure better quality players to the club, Dimes is vindictively pursuing the players that previously spurned the ‘northern powerhouse’ project he had been trying to build. Jones and Cliff are not bad signings and both, in backup roles, will be perfectly functional for a Premiership club. The fact that both will also provide the club with academy credits and bolster the squad's weekly EQP numbers is also a useful bonus. But neither are remotely close to world-class, neither move the needle for a team in desperate need of difference-makers and neither will help recuperate the thousands of lost fans that the club is ostensibly planning to target next season as part of their marketing strategy. With a number of ‘international’ signings set to be announced shortly, Sale fans should not lose hope that significant investment is coming into the squad next season. But after nearly three months since the transfer period opened – and punctuated only by a hasty and clearly undesired announcement of Josh Strauss after BBC Scotland pre-emptively disclosed his signing – this is hardly the news Sale fans have been waiting for. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. After weeks and months of (im)patiently waiting whilst Sale's Premiership rivals strengthened around them, the Sharks - perhaps preemptively given that the news first broke on BBC Scotland on Monday evening - finally announced their first addition to the squad ahead of the upcoming 2017-18 season. And what an addition it is; Josh Strauss, number eight for Glasgow Warriors and the Scottish national team has penned a three-year-contract in what is the highest profile signing for the Mancunian club since another Scottish international, Richie Gray, joined the club before the 2012-13 season. Reassuringly there is no reason to believe that Strauss's time in the North-West will resemble that of his international team-mate. Whereas Gray's athletic style struggled to find an appropriate role within a Sale team that capitulated during the season's first half that year, ultimately moving across the Channel to Casters at the end of the campaign, Strauss is the perfect remedy to the lack of a second impact carrier that has ailed Sale since the emergence of Josh Beaumont during the 2014-15 season. The big-name profile attached to this current Tier One international, augmented by his influential role in a Glasgow Warriors team that won the Pro 12 two years ago and is currently generating seismic waves in the European Champions Cup, would be enough to placate fears that all the talk of significant investment from Sale's new parent company was just that - talk. But the brilliance in luring a current Home Nations international and one of the standout players in all of Europe over the past two seasons to Sale Sharks is that, as well as making a splash off the field, the 30-year-old South African-cum-Glaswegian immediately rectifies two of Sale's most glaring issues, a lack of balance in the back-row and a lack of on-field direction. As a back-row, not only does Strauss bring the height, physicality and game-breaking carrying which Sale have desperately lacked this season, Strauss also brings a wealth of experience and on-field leadership down to Manchester, having cultivated such attributes during stints as both the Lions and Glasgow's captain. Whilst Sale have a plethora of experienced heads in the dressing room, many are currently finding it difficult to get a sustained run in the first-team and as such, are unable to influence the relatively young leadership group (Beaumont, Addison etc.) Sale have promoted this season. Strauss will instantly be placed in a position to lead by example. In short, amongst other attributes, Strauss is immediately the best pure ball-carrier Sale have had since the glory days of Sebastian Chabal and whilst I'm hesitant to place the Bellville, Western Cape native in the same bracket as Kieran Read, Louis Picamoles or Billy Vunipola in terms of world-class ability at his position, Strauss is a top-tier player who will make an immediate difference to Sale's pack next season. So where does Strauss fit into the Sale lineup in 2017-18? Admittedly, much still depends on whether the Sharks ultimately recruit an out-and-out flanker (a la Scott Fardy) and/or a heavier lock to partner with the more athletic Bryn Evans ahead of next season. Should they sign a flanker and not a lock, it would signal Sale envisage Strauss as their unequivocal first-choice No.8 (a wise choice given that Strauss is arguably only 4th or 5th in line at his position for a place on this year's Lions tour) and which in turn would precipitate Beaumont moving to the second row long-term. However signing Strauss also offers Sale a hitherto unconsidered degree of flexibility in how they set up their back-row. Strauss has turned out at both blindside flanker and No.8 for Glasgow and often played at openside flanker during his time with the Lions in Super Rugby. Therefore if Sale ultimately sign another lock, thus negating the necessity of moving Beaumont to the second row, Sale could lineup at 6/7/8 in a number of different combinations that pair Beaumont and Strauss together as two gargantuan ball-carriers. On the assumption that TJ Ioane retains his place as Sale's first-choice blindside over Cameron Neild, Sale could lineup with a back row of: Strauss/Ioane/Beaumont Ioane/Strauss/Beaumont - (my personal favourite) Beaumont/Ioane/Strauss Or if Sale would prefer to keep Ioane (who I would like to designate as a 'volume' carrier rather than the aforementioned 'impact' carrier due to the paucity of his individual line-breaks) on the bench as a late-game option to wear out opposition defences and instead pick a more traditional 'jackal', Sale could instead opt for: Strauss/Neild/Beaumont Neild/Strauss/Beaumont Strauss/Seymour/Beaumont Strauss/Lund/Beaumont This is before even entertaining the notion of Laurence Pearce returning into first-team rotation who could be used in tandem with Strauss and Beaumont in the back-row: Pearce/Strauss/Beaumont or allow Beaumont to move to lock and give Sale at least three notable ball-carriers of 6ft 4' or taller in their back-five at any one time: Evans/Beaumont + Pearce/Ioane/Strauss Evans/Beaumont + Pearce/Neild/Strauss Evans/Beaumont + Pearce/Lund/Strauss Evans/Beaumont + Ioane/Strauss/Pearce. Given how much more effectively Sale's forward pack has performed since the volume carries of Ioane have been combined with the height and length of Magnus Lund and Josh Beaumont from the opening whistle, one would assume Sale's strongest lineup would integrate Strauss into a back-five that offers at least two other destructive ball-carriers (i.e. Ioane and Beaumont). For now exactly how Sale will lineup in the opening round of the 2017-18 season remains up in the air. But the addition of Strauss gives them a degree of versatility one wouldn't initially expect from signing one of the best five or six No. 8's in European (international) rugby. Conventional logic would indicate Strauss will now become Sale's de facto No.8 and captain Josh Beaumont will move permanently into the second row at least until Strauss is away on international duty (how nice is it that Sale now have to worry about such things?) But Strauss' potential impact at Sale goes beyond just that - in the Scotland No.8, Sale have signed a genuine game-changing player in the pack who has the potential to revolutionise their entire forwards strategy for next season. Not a bad way to kick start what will hopefully be the most exciting recruitment period for the club in over a decade. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. It is telling that despite Sale putting together their most complete, and indeed controlling performance of the season Friday night against Newcastle, the Sharks still ultimately required a heroic 74th minute strike from the boot of Will Addison to rescue a much-needed fourth Premiership win of the season. Sale, who had dominated proceedings against their Northern rivals for much of the game, were cruising towards victory by virtue of touchdowns from Denny Solomona, Byron McGuigan and Bryn Evans until two opportune intercept tries from Verniki Goneva suddenly put the North-East club up 24-23 to the good and threatened to complete a second consecutive Premiership meltdown at home for the Sharks who endured a similar fate against Bristol on New Year’s Day. But in a final quarter performance which showed an admirable degree of resilience to rebound from two cruelly unfortunate passages of play which allowed Goneva the latter two of his triumvirate of tries, Sale’s game-long scrumtime dominance bore fruit and gave Addison – once again assertive in his captaincy – the opportunity to kick Sale to a well-deserved victory. Indeed it was a bizarre, bordering on farcical encounter between the Premiership’s two most northernmost clubs. Newcastle entered the Sale 22 precisely four times, one for each try they scored, three of which came from extremely fortuitous circumstances. A 1st minute Joel Hodgson penalty clattered back off the crossbar into the waiting arms of Juan Pablo Socino to hand the Falcons an immediate lead. Sale replied impressively pressuring the visitors into conceding two kickable penalties which Addison duly converted until another serendipitous bounce, this time from a combined Bryn Evans-Magnus Lund lineout interception attempt which popped up to a waiting Goneva who burst pass Cameron Neild and over the try-line. In response Sale finally began to assert their clear dominance, capitalising on Goneva’s sin-binning for a cynical attempt to kick the ball out of Mark Jennings’ hand to facilitate Denny Solomona waltzing over into the corner, his fifth try in four Premiership appearances. Solomona was then involved in Sale’s second, charging over Joel Hodgson on the touchline before presenting the ball to Sale’s jack-of-all-trades Byron McGuigan who astutely gathered the ball at the ruck and sprang over in the corner to give the home side a deserved 18-12 half-time lead and continue the Namibian’s fine form in 2017. After the orange slices, Bryn Evans produced a scintillating reaching finish to push Sale out even further on fifty minutes and almost assure Sale of the comfortable win so desperately needed after six consecutive Premiership losses – ‘almost’ being the operative word given the Sharks’ over-eagerness in blindly shipping the ball down the line upon which Goneva feasted. Thankfully, Addison continued his superb form from the kicking tee to knock over the game’s winning score and alleviate the final wave of Falcons pressure, coming good on another of his customary jinking runs to break thirty metres down field and kill off the game’s remaining seconds. Overall this was not an ideal result. For all of Sale’s controlled and focused play, to so haphazardly gift Newcastle the three tries which ensured they returned to the North-East with both a losing and a try bonus point is a poor reflection of how dominant the Sharks were in all aspects of the game and how convincingly they should have ran in a five-point victory. However at this stage of the season Sale have to be looking behind rather than forwards, and the four points they did accumulate, in combination with Bristol’s 8-42 thumping at the hands of Harlequins finally affords Sale some much-needed breathing room (11 points to be precise) between themselves and the bottom of the table. Honourable mentions this week extends to the entirety of the team who produced a coherent and efficient performance in victory. Extra special mentions however go to: Ross Harrison and Rob Webber for their respective eighty-minute performances; Mike Phillips who's ball distribution and decision-making appeared noticeably sharper this week; Mark Jennings who offered an exciting glimpse of his potential as an all-round lynchpin in the middle of the Sharks’ backline And finally George Nott and Ben Curry for a pair of fiery cameos supplemented by some technically excellent defensive work. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Please also consider supporting The Shark Tank on Patreon; only £4 a month away from affording an upgrade in hosting subscription. With the 2016-17 season now well past the halfway mark and recruitment for next season underway for the majority of teams, now is an opportune time to revisit Sale's transfer dealings from a year ago and assess how they've fared in their first six months in Manchester. CorpAcq's summer acquisition of the club - and promise of substantial investment into the playing squad - ultimately came too close to the beginning of the season to drastically affect any of Sale's transfer activities before July. Erstwhile, despite the losses of club stalwarts Tommy Taylor, Vadim Cobilas and Danny Cipriani, Steve Diamond found himself predominately investing in a number of squad players to supplement the core of young, English players the club hope(d) will ascend to a similar star status of those who departed in June, with the team's most exciting signings - Josh Charnley and Denny Solomona - were both considered project players who, whilst talented, may have required a substantial bedding in time in union. With that in mind, let's assess how the thirteen new members of Sale have fared thus far as a return to Premiership action looms. Halani Aulika – B Originally brought in, presumably, to back up Brian Mujati and Kieran Longbottom, Aulika has since dispatched that narrative, pouncing upon injuries to the former two to decisively win Sale’s starting tighthead jersey. Having brought his infamous destructive loose play with him from London Irish, Aulika has also shown a pleasantly surprising ability to force turnovers at the breakdown (including three in twenty minutes against Scarlets a fortnight ago) and has been one of Sale’s most consistent performers in the season’s first half. And whilst his scrummaging has flitted between dominant and vulnerable depending on who is matching up against, Aulika has, in the majority of encounters, remained in the ascendency and shed his label as the most penalised prop in the Premiership (2015-16), especially since being paired with Rob Webber and Ross Harrison. Indeed it is only his unfortunate tendency to give away hot-headed and costly penalties that stops Aulika from attaining a perfect A* grade. Josh Charnley – C As a player new to the game of union and coming off a long, Grand Final-winning season, Josh Charnley’s relatively slow start to his Sale career (especially in contrast to Denny Solomona) can be forgiven. Charnley clearly has all the physical attributes to exceed in union and has impressed in early outings with his strength in contact and a decisive quickness which lets him explode through gaps in the defensive line. However it is his defence – both his individual tackling which sees him too frequently attempt to go high on an opposition ball-carrier - and defensive positioning (a tendency to ‘blitz’ out of the defensive line) – which still require the work to propel him into a quality Premiership player. Those things will come in time, however. At this stage patience is the key for Charnley and Sale fans. Expect big things next season. Curtis Langdon – N/A Hasn’t featured for the first-team this season but was selected in England’s U20 Six Nations squad. Definitely one to be earmarked for the future. AJ MacGinty – C An injured hamstring suffered by MacGinty in the season’s opening game hampered any semblance of consistency in the Sale backline for much of the season’s first half and prevented the American fly-half the ample time necessary for him to embed his distinctive playing style into the Sharks’ attack. So with MacGinty’s distribution and orchestration of the Sale backline having been cumbersome at best, it is instead his instinctive ball-carrying and ability to break the line himself which have been the standout moments of MacGinty’s career as the Sale fly-half thus far. However with his goal-kicking above 80% for the season, his defence as tenacious as advertised and his in-play kicking immediately benefitting from the arrival of Denny Solomona, I’m an AJ MacGinty apologist and am determined he should be given a consistent run of starts until the end of the season before assessing his true value to the team. After all, it took Danny Cipriani a while to acclimatise to Manchester and MacGinty no longer has the reigning Pro12 Player of the Year Bundee Aki outside him. Kieran Longbottom – C- Another player who spent a sizeable portion of the early season (two months) out with injury, and who is still recovering from nearly two years out with a foot injury, Kieran Longbottom understandably has yet to make the impact expected of the former Saracens prop. Most worrisome is that the Australian has struggled at times with his scrummaging and has been worked over by more technically adept looseheads; his natural scrummaging style means his legs are planted very far back and is a liability to collapse, something more opportunistic props have seized upon. Longbottom has, however, continued to improve as his recovery from both injuries has progressed and like with a number of Sale’s summer contingent has turned in his best performances in a Sale shirt in recent weeks. Byron McGuigan – B Impressive whenever called upon be it at full-back or wing, Byron McGuigan, especially in light of Arscottgate, has cemented his place as an invaluable utility back in the Sale first team. Abrasive in contact but also with the ability to beat defenders to the outside, McGuigan’s versatility has been key with Mike Haley’s September layoff with a shoulder injury and the termination of fellow winger Tom Arscott’s contract. Add in the fact that he’s also shown himself to be an adequate place-kicker when called upon, the Namibian has made an ideal start to his time in Manchester. Dan Mugford – C- Mugford has so far struggled for gametime with the Sale first team with Sam James’ promotion to fly-half behind MacGinty indicative of how he is probably viewed by the coaching staff. The one advantage Mugford does possess however is how his natural skillset as a distributor appears to make him a better fit than MacGinty within Sale’s current attacking structure. That said, should another Premiership-standard fly-half become available, one expects Mugford is a likely candidate to move on in search of greater gametime. Paolo Odogwu – A Already showing international potential at 19, Paolo Odogwu’s game-breaking foot pace, complimented by a powerful motor in contact has made him one of the signings of the season, period. Having spent September and October as Sale’s most impressive attacking player, Odogwu’s has also impressed on the other side of the ball – his defensive positioning within the Sale back-three has shown a clear understanding of the intricacies of the modern game whilst his individual tackling has been second-to-none, complimented by his recovery speed. Odogwu’s game-time will be managed closely in the season’s second-half to prevent a burnout, however the immediate impact he has made this season and the potential he has flashed to expand upon in seasons to come make him the pick of Sale’s signings for this season so far. Laurence Pearce – C Laurence Pearce was one of the more intriguing summer acquisitions coming into the season given his brief but enticing career at Leicester Tigers. But after a debut performance in the Premiership’s opening round that saw him subbed off at half-time, Pearce has since been conspicuously absent for the majority of the season’s first half (although in recent weeks a shoulder injury has been mooted as the explanation for the 26-year-old). Indeed for someone anticipated by many, including myself, to become a consistent fixture in the Sharks’ backrow, that six of Pearce’s ten appearances in a Sale shirt thus far have come in the LV Cup / latter rounds of the Champions Cup pool stage speaks volumes about how there would appear to be a behind-the-scenes reason as to why the number eight has played so little a role in 2016/17, especially given how Sale’s most pressing need has often been a combative ball-carrier in the pack. Despite an underwhelming start to the season however in which he has failed to nail down the blindside flanker spot he appeared a natural fit for, Pearce has shown a lot of promise in recent weeks. Returning to the first team noticeably leaner, Pearce has shown both his destructive capabilities with ball-in-hand and his prowess as a breakdown jackal in the wins over Scarlets and Cardiff. A big second-half of the season could hopefully follow.
Mike Phillips – D
For all the experience the 34-year-old, 94-cap Phillips’ brings to Sale, his slow distribution, poor tactical kicking and inability – or disinclination – to use his sizeable physical frame to bully opposition scrum-halves means he’s been a poor fit with Sale’s backline which thrives exclusively on quick ball. Even in the twilight of his career it is clear Phillips can still play at the top level but he’s just an ill-fit with this current Sharks team. Lou Reed – F Left the club by mutual consent on Wednesday. Nothing more than a panic buy following Juandre Kruger’s u-turn. As a signing, hard to see it as anything other than a waste. Denny Solomona – A A natural try-scorer (five tries in his first five appearances and four in his last two) and a player whose aerial ability and pace out-wide has brought dynamism and a much-needed focal point to the Sale attacking setup, Solomona’s conversion to rugby union has been, at least on the pitch, seamless. Rob Webber – B A broken arm in his first appearance ruined the end of Webber’s 2016, but the ex-Bath hooker has been in sublime form since. Powerful scrummaging and increasingly imposing ball-carrying has helped bring the ballast missing from the beginning of the season back to Sale’s Monster Pack ™ whilst concerns about Webber’s throwing accuracy have been quelled by a series of consistent set-piece showings. Now if only he could jackal like Tommy Taylor.. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Enjoyed reading The Shark Tank over the last two-and-a-half years? If you would like to continue to support The Shark Tank please consider donating to its Patreon page. The following article is the first patreon-sponsored content to appear on the site per request of Andy Taylor. Want to influence the next community article on The Shark Tank? Please consider reviewing the website's patreon page to find out how to get involved.
We’re slightly over halfway in the 2016-17 season. But unfortunately for most Sale fans, we’re already dreaming of next season. In the Premiership, Sale sit a disappointing 10th with only three wins in thirteen games. Whilst a drop-off from last season’s impressive sixth-place finish was expected given the losses of club stalwarts Danny Cipriani, Tommy Taylor and Vadim Cobilas along with some, ahem, underwhelming recruitment that the club’s summer ownership takeover came far too late to influence, to have endured such a miserable first 13/22th of the season and be firmly mired in a relegation battle means there is little domestic solace to be had. It is the Championship rather than the Champions Cup that currently looks a more feasible proposition for next season. Speaking of European rugby, despite last weekend’s 25-23 victory over Scarlets – Sale’s first in the Champions Cup since October 2012 - the Sharks unsurprisingly finished dead last in Pool 3 behind continental heavyweights Saracens and Toulon as well as a plucky Scarlets team, again re-affirming that this is a team that requires serious investment before consistent top-six finishes and respectable European pool stage showings can be expected. To compound matters further, Sale are also currently bottom of their Anglo-Welsh Cup pool; however all four sides in said pool (Ospreys, Exeter and Worcester the others) have all won one and lost one of their first two fixtures in the tournament and the Sharks are bottom by virtue of their lack of a four-try bonus-point in their solitary win. Also nobody cares about the Anglo-Welsh Cup anyway (unless Sale thrash Cardiff on Friday and go on to win their first piece of silverware since 2006). However rather than conduct an autopsy on a season which by all means is already dead-in-the-water and in which simply remaining in the Premiership for next season and maybe signing Ben Spencer would be considered a magnanimous achievement, let’s adopt a statistical outlook and take an objective view of the positives and negatives of Sale’s season thus far. Given that, unlike the United Kingdom (yet), Sale are out of Europe and statistics aren’t publicly available for the Anglo-Welsh Cup, all statistics listed are in relation to the Aviva Premiership. Also, would you the reader please bear in mind that as I neither work for BT Sport or Premiership Rugby and cannot afford the £2000+ annual subscription cost to Opta Sports (although if you’re looking for a justification to donate to The Shark Tank’s Patreon page, there you go), the stats listed are what I have been able to find publicly and may not be as comprehensive as any of us would prefer. Instead most statistics come from the excellent ukrugbystats.co.uk and rugby.statbunker.com Disciplinary Record Disciple has been a major issue in Sale’s performances this season with the team enduring a torrid run in recent weeks of being unable to see out a full eighty minutes with a full contingent of players. It is not surprising therefore that Sale lead the Premiership in cards accumulated with nine yellow cards in thirteen fixtures thus far (no reds). Sale’s lacklustre discipline meanwhile is slightly worse at home than it is away with five yellow cards being awarded at the AJ Bell and four at opposition grounds. The club also appear to be struggling to abide by the rules as the game progresses having been awarded six second-half yellow cards compared to three in the first forty. Those who have been carded in the line of duty this season is as follows: Halani Aulika x2 Jonathan Mills Byron McGuigan Johnny Leota Neil Briggs Josh Beaumont Mike Philips Rob Webber Tries Scored / Conceded Erstwhile, a comprehensive rundown of Sale’s point scoring and conceding thus far this season is as follows: At Home Scored Eleven tries in six games, an average of 1.83 per game. Conceded Fifteen tries conceded in six games, an average of 2.5 tries per game Away Scored Nineteen tries in seven games, an average of 2.71 per game Conceded Twenty-one tries conceded in seven games, an average of 3 per game Total Scored (11+19) = 30 total tries scored. Sale are 7th in the Premiership for tries scored behind Wasps, Chiefs, Gloucester, Saracens, Bath and Harlequins. Sale are averaging 2.3 tries scored per game By Time: 0-20: 8 21-40: 5 41-60: 8 61-80: 9 Conceded (14+22) = 36 total tries conceded. Sale have conceded the 5th most tries in the Premiership this season ahead of Bristol, Worcester, Newcastle and Harlequins. Sale are averaging 2.77 tries conceded per game By Time: 0-20: 9 21-40: 13 (!) 41-60: 5 61-80: 9 Top Try Scorers Despite having only three Premiership games under his belt (and a Champions Cup fixture), mid-season signing Denny Solomona has already leaped to the top of Sale’s individual try-scoring charts, with all four of his touchdowns in a Sale shirt coming in the domestic league: Denny Solomona – 4 Byron McGuigan – 3 Johnny Leota – 3 Will Addison – 2 Halani Aulika – 2 Paolo Odogwu – 2 Bryn Evans – 2 Mike Haley - 2 David Seymour – 1 Sam James – 1 Cameron Neild – 1 Neil Briggs – 1 Mike Phillips – 1 Eifon Lewis-Roberts – 1 Tom Curry – 1 Josh Beaumont – 1 Penalty Try - 1 Points Scored Home First Half 64 (An average of 10.66 points) Second Half 39 (An average of 6.5 points) Away First Half 51 (An average of 7.2 points) Second Half 89 (An average of 12.71) Kicking Points Scored from Tee AJ MacGInty – 35 Will Addison – 31 Dan Mugford – 20 Conversions AJ MacGinty – 7 Will Addison – 5 Dan Mugford - 4 Penalties AJ MacGinty – 7 Will Addison – 7 Dan Mugford - 4 Kicking Percentage AJ MacGinty – 82.35% (14/17) – 6th in the Premiership Will Addison – 75% (12/16) – 16th in the Premiership Dan Mugford – 72.73% (8/11) – 18th in the Premiership Most Appearances (Starts) Josh Beaumont – 13 (12) Mike Phillips - 13 (8) Neil Briggs – 13 (8) Halani Aulika – 13 (7) Bryn Evans – 12 (12) League Leaders Most Carries Thomas Waldrom - 226 Cameron Neild – 163 Ben Morgan – 144 Most Off-Loads Louis Picamoles - 26 Sam James – 22 Billy Vunipola – 17 Lineouts Won Josh Beaumont – 77 Graham Kitchener – 65 James Horwill – 62 Miscellaneous Most Points in a Match 14- AJ MacGinty – Worcester Warriors (24/09) 14- Dan Mugford – Harlequins (9/09) 14- Will Addison – Leicester Tigers (1/10) Most Tries in a Match 2 – Will Addison – Worcester Warriors (24/09) 2 – Denny Solomona – Harlequins (7/01) 2 – Bryn Evans – Wasps (27/11) Most Team Tries 5 – Bristol (30/10) 4 – Leicester Tigers (1/10) 4 – Worcester Warriors (24/09) Most Team Points 34 – Worcester (24/09) 34 – Leicester Tigers (1/10) 31 – Bristol (30/10) Least Team Points 3 – Exeter Chiefs (2/12) 3 – Bath (7/10) 5 – Northampton Saints (23/12) Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Be it not for a fortuitous bounce that allowed Harlequins fly-half Tim Swiel to run in unopposed under the posts late in the first-half of Saturday’s clash at The Stoop, Sale’s now-nine game losing run in all competitions would have ended approximately forty minutes later. Frustratingly, said bounce did occur, Swiel scored seven points immediately after Charlie Walker’s try had tied the game at 13-apiece and Sale would ultimately leave South-West London on Saturday evening with only a single losing bonus point having been outlasted 29-26. Despite a much improved offering from Sale who, for the first time in a number of weeks, arrived at an opposition stadia with a comprehensive gameplan which was then by-and-large enacted, a brace of tries from Denny Solomona – including a breath-taking shoelace catch from a TJ Ioane(!) cross-kick that ultimately earned Sale their consolation point – and a further effort from Byron McGuigan (set up by a perfectly weighted Johnny Leota miss pass), Swiel’s 24-point haul would inch Harlequins to a fortuitous, albeit opportunistic, victory. The return of Will Addison to the starting lineup appeared to add fresh impetus to the oft-maligned Sharks backline with the Cumbrian combining well with Sam James (again at fly-half), Leota, Solomona and McGuigan who all turned in strong individual performances as part of a Sharks’ attack which showed both variety and dynamism with ball-in-hand. Addison also once again performed admirably having been cast into the role of primary placekicker, slotting four of his six attempts at goal. That he missed the two conversions which would have given Sale a narrow 30-29 win speaks more urgently of Sale’s lack of a consistent place-kicker/playmaker combination at fly-half than it does Addison’s ability as a spot starter in the role. Solomona’s arrival especially has breathed new life into the no-longer quite-as-dormant Sale offense. The New Zealander’s pace out wide has given Sale – regardless of who is at number 10 – the option of kicking the ball wide and behind the defensive line and using Solomona's pace and aerial ability to pressure the covering defenders if he is unable to reclaim the ball himself. It was not always used successfully on Saturday, but it has added another weapon to Sale’s relatively empty arsenal as an effective counter-weapon against defences looking to pressure the Sharks’ inexperienced pairings at half-back and as a free-play tactic with the penalty advantage already secured. Whilst the Sharks once again showed encouraging signs that the current harrowing losing streak should not make it past January and, if nothing else, picked up a second point in two weeks, this game was lost – or more accurately not won – because of the squad’s bench depth which for the umpteenth season running has once again proven to be an issue. The Sale scrum, another aspect of the team which has picked up considerably in the last few weeks behind the play of Ross Harrison, Rob Webber and Halani Aulika, simply disintegrated in the second-half when the aforementioned trio left the field costing Sale two penalties and a further six point swing which swung the game back in Harlequins’ favour. James Flynn, Neil Briggs and Kieran Longbottom struggled to cope with their opposition numbers, and behind them, neither Jonathan Mills nor Ben Curry provide the ball-carrying nous and impact to help turn the game in Sale’s favour in the loose. The rumour in today’s (Sunday’s) Rugby Paper, that Sale are eying Japanese Number Eight Amanaki Mafi as a potential recruit would be a significant coup for a team lacking impact players beyond the sixty-minute mark. Unfortunately Sale, having showed promising signs of a return to domestic form, now find themselves driven back to distraction with an unwelcome European double-header against Toulon and Scarlets. However, should Sale continue their upturn in form, these now otherwise meaningless European fixtures could continue to instil a sense of confidence in a side that is finally beginning to display the ambition and cohesiveness that was so sorely lacking when the nine-game losing streak first began. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. Enjoyed reading The Shark Tank over the past two-and-a-half years? Please consider supporting the website via its Patreon page. Forget for a moment that Sale were sucker-punched over the weekend by bottom-of-the-table Bristol 24-23 which now sees the Sharks firmly embedded in a suddenly three-sided relegation quagmire, and instead think of happier times (i.e. last Saturday) when rumours continued to abound of England international fly-halves seriously contemplating moves back to the North-West. With the Gregorian calendar now firmly fixed to 2017 and the embargo on contacting out-of-contract Premiership players now lifted, it is time for all teams – Sale included – to cast their eye to recruiting players for next season and beyond even if the (admittedly) slim possibility of relegation may cause one or two potential targets to pause before committing their long-term futures to Manchester. But let’s proceed under the assumption that Sale will eventually win another game this season, comfortably avoid relegation at the expense of Bristol and/or Worcester and begin to utilise the nascent avenues of investment promised by the club’s new ownership group. But if Sale are to begin the assiduous process of establishing themselves as a sustainable element of English rugby’s elite as touted by said ownership since their acquisition of the club, significant parts of the current squad will need addressing and improvement. Below, ranked by urgency, are the positions which I expect Sale to invest in over the coming months. First, the potential departed from the club this summer should be identified. As indicated by the out of contract list found here, Tom Arscott, Neil Briggs, Eifon Lewis-Roberts, Magnus Lund, Joanthan Mills, Brian Mujati, Mike Phillips, Peter Stringer and Sam Tuitupou are all currently on expiring contracts and have yet to be re-signed. Director of Rugby Steve Diamond has already confirmed that Lewis-Roberts will be retiring at the end of the season and conventional wisdom would suggest that he will be joined by Peter Stringer (39), Mike Phillips and possibly Sam Tuitupou with the latter two set to turn 35 before the start of the 2016-17 campaign. Magnus Lund (34 next season) is also a contender for retirement. Furthermore questions marks remain over whether Brian Mujati will be re-signed with the Zimbabwean’s omission from matchday squads earlier in the season in favour of Halani Aulika and Kieran Longbottom suggest he has fallen considerably down Diamond’s propping pecking order for whatever reason. That leaves Arscott (29), Mills (32), Briggs (31) as the players that it would be reasonable to expect to be re-signed if for no other reason than their familiarity with the club, the club’s style of play and their ability to offer experienced rotation options throughout the course of the season. With the possible loss of six first-team players factored in, here is the areas that Sale will unequivocally need to strengthen ahead of next season. Scrum-half The most glaring current need in the Sale squad. Mike Phillips has thus far been a bust and a poor fit for a backline that demands quick delivery from the base of the scrum. James Mitchell has shown some promise in a number of cameo appearances over the season but at 21 is far too inexperienced to assume the mantle of the incumbent scrum-half should both Stringer and Phillips retire. Mitchell could be promoted into a full-time backup position next season but an experienced and (currently) international-quality scrum-half is desperately needed. Possible Target: Nick Phipps (You read it here first.) Loosehead Prop Since (apparently although there’s still not be an official announcement) Ross Harrison penned a three-year extension, the 24-year-old has been ripping up trees and has shown the potential to go into next season as Sale’s undisputed starting looshead. However with Eifon Lewis-Roberts retiring another prop to contend with Harrison and James Flynn is required should either’s form drop off. Three Premiership-quality props on either side of the scrum is an absolute must to be a top-six contender. Possible Target: Val Rapava-Ruskin Lock/Blindside Flanker With summer signing Lou Reed awol all season so far (and another contender to move on in the off-season), the Sharks are left with only three tangible options for the second row in Mills, Bryn Evans and Andrei Ostrikov. Acquiring a bulky, ball-playing lock to partner with Evans as first-choice pairing who also has the ability to add further ballast and ball-carrying ability to the habitually ‘lightweight’ Sale backrow would also be a boon. Possible Target: Juandre Kruger (Not really but somebody in that exact mould.) Fly-Half The jury is still considerably out on AJ MacGinty and/or Sam James’ long-term future in a number 10 shirt, but let’s face facts: if the opportunity to add George Ford or somebody of a similar calibre emerges, it is a move Sale have to make. Ford/MacGinty/Mugford with James also able to cover the position? That’s genuine strength-in-depth. Possible Target: George Ford Inside Centre Depending on whether Sam Tuitupou does opt to retire (or is re-signed), another vacancy could emerge in the Sale backline. Mark Jennings continues to be left out in the cold and Johnny Leota has struggled to replicate his bullish performances of recent seasons. If Will Addison moves over to Outside Centre full-time that logically slots Sam James into the interior midfield spot but another centre could still be looked at to replicate Tutiupou’s combination of powerful running and soft hands. Tighthead Prop Should either Ciaran Parker or Jake Pope show enough in Carrington to warrant a full-time place with the first-team next season this suggestion is nullified. However should neither make the expected leap, an experienced tighthead is a possibility to replace Mujati (should he leave) and provide further cover for Aulika and Longbottom. Follow The Shark Tank on Twitter for more news, analysis and opinions on all things Sale Sharks. If you would like to continue to support The Shark Tank please consider donating to its Patreon page. |
Archive
June 2017
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