Alex Sanderson feels Nathan Jibulu could soon ‘explode onto international scene’

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson is backing Nathan Jibulu to make his England debut in time to be considered for next year’s World Cup after acclaiming his star turn against Saracens.

Jibulu was named man of the match in the 21-17 Gallagher Prem victory at StoneX Stadium following a rampaging performance that was accompanied by accuracy at the line-out.

The 23-year-old excelled with England head coach Steve Borthwick watching from the stands as the picture at hooker became more complicated.

Fixture

Gallagher Premiership

Saracens

17 - 21

Full-time

Sale

All Stats and Data

Jamie George was also in the Saracens crowd because of a pubic bone problem, his understudy Theo Dan limped off injured and Sale’s Luke Cowan-Dickie was rested to manage his knees.

Sanderson said: “Any time you watch Nathan play he makes an impact. He takes meters either side of the ball and we knew that he had that in him.

“He was a wrecking ball and caused havoc around the field. He nailed his line-outs and showed he’s of international class.

“You can get away with being fast and skilful in the Prem, but it’s another level again in terms of the power that’s required at international level and he’s got that ability. He’s immensely strong.

“This could be the season when he explodes onto the international scene. Theo Dan’s a great player but it doesn’t seem that anyone’s snatching that position after Cowan-Dickie or George.

“There’s been a lot of rotation between those two and with England wanting to build into a World Cup, this could be it for him, a good opportunity.”

Sale were reduced to 13 men for three minutes of the first half after Jacques Vermeulen was shown a 20-minute red card and Alex Lozowski was sent to the sin bin, both for high tackles.

Yet they still brought Saracens to heel, dominating the second half at a ground where they had lost on 13 of their previous 15 visits.

Sanderson said: “Resilience breeds trust and fosters belief. They now have the knowledge they can get through moments like that.”

Saracens impressed in their opening-weekend victory over Leicester but this lifeless display was a backwards step.

Head coach Joe Shaw said: “We couldn’t really get into our flow, that’s the truth of it. Credit to Sale, they came and fronted up.

“They had adversity, which we had last weekend, but they kept coming. We have to take it on the chin and move on.”