Alex Sanderson on the 4 key areas that can transform bridesmaids Sale

Alex Sanderson led Sale Sharks into the play-offs for the first time in 15 years in 2021, four months after becoming the club’s Director of Rugby. They have made the semi-finals in all but one of the four years since then, reaching the final in 2023.

As a model of consistency, the Sharks are right up there, but the feeling has always been that they never quite had the wherewithal to take the next step and go all the way.

Sanderson isn’t afraid to acknowledge that they have fallen short of internal expectations.

“I am really tight with the club owners, I don’t want to waste their money and resources and I would like to do something special for them,” said Sanderson.

“There is a sense of failure within the squad and clearly they are not failing by getting to finals. But there is a sense of that because we haven’t achieved what we are capable of; we haven’t been at our best when the moment has required it.

“I am desperate to make good with the talent we have in the building. There have been a lot of pre-season conversations about how we can take the next step, and that is not just in terms of accolades but also day-to-day consistency in preparation and performance.

“The last inch is always the hardest; it’s always the toughest, the margins are a lot smaller, everything is a lot tighter. So the coaching dynamic and the coaching methodology – that’s one thing.

“Squad cohesion, keeping a good team together – that’s proven to be another factor, and we are getting to the age demographic where the main core of the squad is reaching their peak – that’s just time and experience, time in the saddle, to get the players to that point. And allied to that is recruitment and retention.”

On the coaching front, Sanderson has brought in a new head coach and an attack coach. The Sharks dispensed with the services of Paul Deacon after a decade at the club, and Italian Marco Bortolami has come in to replace him, while Joe Ford has returned to his former club to lead the attack after a spell in charge at Doncaster. New voices that he hopes will make a difference.

“I feel the dynamic is working really well. There were improvements we wanted to make in and around session planning, transitions, and incorporating new insights and voices, all of which are important when it comes to the attack and the attacking breakdown,” added the former Saracens man.

“These areas that have been kind of stumbling blocks for us the last couple of seasons, or at least at the start of the season, and that’s not trying to say these guys are better than Deacs, but fresh impetus is what we needed.

“That’s been felt, obviously by me, but the best feedback is obviously from the returning internationals. I have dived pretty deep with those guys about what they think is different, and there is excitement about what the future can hold with the coaching staff we have right now.

“There are always challenges with that because the dynamic is good, but the cohesion still isn’t there because that takes time. Although we can fast-track it, you have to go through experiences to learn how we need each other, how we can support each other, and how we can challenge each other as well. So, we have to work through that.”

Sanderson has also held his hands up and admitted that, at times, Sale have got player recruitment wrong on his watch. For every Ernst van Rhyn – Sale’s new leader of men – there has been a Le Roux Roets, and for every Luke Cowan-Dickie, there has been a Waisea Nayacalevu, Fiji’s former captain and the biggest flop of the lot.

“Our retention rate is 95%, but with that, you have to add and improve the gene pool,” Sanderson stressed.

“We have had some signings that haven’t turned out well for us, or well for them; they’ve not been a great move. But I have got a good feeling that the guys we have brought on board this year will have a much bigger impact.

“Natham Jibulu, Marius Louw and Jacques Vermeulen are all very good high-quality pros who’ve added over the pre-season, so I can see them coming through as well.”

Only time will tell if the makeup and modus operandi of the new-look coaching team, along with the recruitment and retention of players, will combine to make Sale successful.

All that will be put to the test for real on Thursday night, as Sale Sharks take on Gloucester in the opening match of the 2025/26 Gallagher PREM season at the newly-named CorpAcq Stadium.

“I feel a debt to our hardcore fan base, I really do, because they have supported us each year when I have said we are going for it, only to fall a bit short, so I want to repay a bit of that fanaticism,” added Sanderson.