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'A little Irish jockey, he rode the golden unicorn': The Sale update on injured MacGinty
Alex Sanderson has provided an at times colourful medical update on his injured trio ahead of this Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership semi-final which will see Sale return to Sandy Park, the venue where they were defeated by a point by Exeter last Saturday and lost AJ MacGinty, Akker van der Merwe and Cameron Neild to injury.
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The loss of all three for the knockout stages of the tournament would be a huge blow and Sanderson has admitted he is planning to definitely not have two of them available following serious injuries that are still be assessed.
Out-half MacGinty has lit up the Premiership with his form this season, van der Merwe was considered unlucky not to be selected by the Springboks for the upcoming tour versus the Lions, while Neild was a hometown hero who was man-of-the-match in the round 21 demolition of Harlequins before he suffered last week’s injury at Exeter.
Sanderson was initially hesitant to give information on the situation regarding all three players when he appeared at the weekly Sale media briefing on Tuesday evening but he eventually relented and admitted that MacGinty and Neild are unavailable but there is a chance that van der Merwe would likely be available for the final if Sale make it but he is doubtful for this weekend.
“I’m not sure how much I am able to release,” said Sanderson initially when quizzed about the health of the trip injured in Devon last weekend in a match where Sale relinquished a 19-3 lead and lost 19-20 to an opposition that had Sam Skinner red-carded. “I haven’t asked their permission in terms of the severity.
"I rang a few Premiership clubs about finding AJ a spot. I spoke to about four or five of them…"
https://t.co/IKh19f5Z9R— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 25, 2021
“Well actually, AJ is on a conference call with a surgeon this afternoon so we still don’t know about him but thankfully it’s not a hamstring off the bone or any tendons so it could be much worse. It seems like it’s something meniscul, whatever that is, so it’s probably the best thing that could happen, but in terms of operations and moving forward we won’t know until tonight.
“Akker, we are giving him as long as we can this week and there is a chance he might come through. If he is not back this week he pretty much should be back the week after, all being well. Fingers crossed. Cam Neild, no chance unfortunately but again the long-term ramifications I’m not sure.”
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A PRO12 title winner with Connacht in 2016, MacGinty, the Irishman who has played for the USA at the World Cup, has been at the fulcrum of the Sale progress to the semi-finals, making 21 appearances – 16 as the starting out-half – in their 22-game campaign.
In that 1,364-minute contribution, some of his headline stats were scoring 188 points, making 401 metres from 126 carries, putting in 133 tackles, giving a dozen try assists, making eleven clean breaks and winning seven turnovers. Those numbers, though, won’t be added to following his injury in the final minute last weekend and while Sale will likely start one-cap Springboks out-half when they visit Exeter again, there is no denying MacGinty will be a huge loss.
“Captain America, that is what we call him now,” quipped Sanderson. “I labelled him as a poor relation to the golden unicorn, I called him a little Irish jockey, he rode the golden unicorn. But that is an underestimation in the extreme, he has been absolutely mercurial, he has been brilliant for us.
“He has played some of his best rugby and he will be sorely missed. We talked about it on the pitch straight after the game, that we can’t let their injuries be in vain this weekend and all of us to some degree will be performing for him as well as the other two. He has been brilliant.”
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"Just when you think you have got it one of them gets their hair cut and it totally leaves me flummoxed again for two days" ?
– It's a happy 23rd birthday today for the Curry tins at Sale ? #EXEvSAL
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 15, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
ABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
225 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
225 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
84 Go to comments