Sale Sharks are ripping off the 'Saffacens' model and it might just work
In the hours following Saracens’ 20-10 victory over Leinster in the Heineken Champions Cup final, their third European title in four years, you could forgive the other 11 Gallagher Premiership directors of rugby a moment of despair.
The juggernaut just keeps on going. There have been slip ups, such as Premiership semi-final at Sandy Park two years ago that, in fairness, came right on the heels of their second Champions Cup title, or their loss to Leinster in the European quarter-finals last season, but they have only ever felt like momentary blips, rather than the start of a new trend.
Exeter Chiefs might have their number over the course of the regular season, where their smaller number of international call-ups aids their consistency over the 22-game format, but come the crunch knockout games at the season’s end, there are few who would argue Exeter retain their spot as the dominant force in English rugby.
How does that old saying go? If you can’t beat them, join them?
With Saracens’ success fresh in the mind, it’s hard to look at what’s going on at Sale Sharks right now and not think that there’s a sense of trying to emulate what the north Londoners have done.
Back in the late 2000’s, Saracens notoriously loaded up their squad with established South African players, to the point where fans of rival clubs had even dubbed them ‘Saffacens’.
In came Neil de Kock, Ernst Joubert, Mouritz Botha, Brad Barritt, Schalk Brits and Petrus du Plessis, whilst Namibian Jacques Burger was also among those recruited. To people on the outside, they were mercenaries. To those on the inside, they were professionals establishing a culture.
For a long time, Saracens had been a largely irrelevant force in English rugby, failing to challenge the dominance of London Wasps and Leicester Tigers, whilst the likes of Gloucester, Sale and London Irish had their own, brief moments in the sun, too. That group of players helped take Saracens out of that mid-table void and into a perennial hunt for the Premiership playoffs.
If you look at Sale’s recruitment for this coming summer, it’s hard not to see a parallel.
Robert du Preez, Akker van der Merwe and Coenie Oosthuizen are all set to arrive from the Sharks, whilst standout international second row Lood de Jager’s move from the Bulls has also been confirmed. With a significant bolstering of the tight five and an improvement to the club’s stock of fly-halves, all four signings tick important boxes for Sale which had, arguably, gone unticked in recent seasons.
They aren’t the only South Africans in line to be representing Sale next season, either, with Faf de Klerk, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Byron McGuigan, Jono Ross and Josh Strauss all already at the club. If Saracens were ‘Saffacens’, what does that make Sale? The 10th province of the Republic?
It wasn’t just the arrival of established players from South Africa that turned Saracens into annual champions and a powerhouse of northern hemisphere rugby, though. Those players helped make Saracens more competitive in the short-term, but more importantly they established a culture and drove standards at the club, something which then rubbed off on all of the youngsters coming through in north London.
Saracens were competitive initially, yes, but they weren’t lifting an abundance of silverware until Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Ben Spencer and Jackson Wray emerged, joining the likes of Alex Goode and many of those veteran South Africans in the senior squad. With that core in place – and still the centre of the club to this day – Saracens have enjoyed unmatched success over the last five years. There is still a South African flavour to the group, with Michael Rhodes and Schalk Burger having played important roles in recent seasons, but it’s to the academy prospects, such as Nick Isiekwe and Ben Earl, that the club has been and is continuing to look.
Again, you can see a parallel with that and what Sale are doing up in the north-west.
The Curry twins, Tom and Ben, have been invested in and are leading the way for the club, whilst Cam Redpath, Luke James, Kieran Wilkinson, Bevan Rodd and Sam Dugdale are among those next players ready to step up and play similarly vital roles.
It’s certainly a bold strategy from Sale, who will know that they will be measured by the yardstick that Saracens have already established.
No one will be expecting titles in the next season or two, but what they will be expecting is not easy to achieve and something which shows that what Saracens have been able to do is not solely about the money that has been invested into the club.
Sale will need to be consistently competitive in the top half of the table for a start, whilst also finding ways to bring through those young players, despite the influx of South African talent in the senior side. That means there will be a pressure on the coaching staff to keep developing these players beyond the age of 18 and have them ready to compete with experienced internationals for a spot in the matchday 23.
They will need to, just as Saracens did, take a relatively small fanbase and continue to make it grow. Saracens didn’t even come close to selling out Allianz Park when they first moved in back in 2013, but now the club regularly pack out the stadium and are set to start expansion plans in the summer. Sale have the lowest average attendance in the Premiership this season and both Worcester Warriors and Newcastle Falcons have bypassed them in recent campaigns.
Perhaps most crucially, they will need to create a culture at the club that not only allows them retain players, but also makes them a desirable destination, such as the one Saracens have in St Albans. It’s one of players and coaches enjoying turning up to work each day, player welfare being a priority, whether through injury rehabilitation or management of playing time, a willingness to sacrifice earnings in order to be part of something special and the club taking an active interest in the players’ post-retirement well-being.
That permeates every level of Saracens, helps create connected thinking between the academy and the seniors and makes the players involved feel more like a member of a family, than simply an employee.
It’s in that area where Sale may well end up being judged, as opening the chequebook and identifying the recruits is just the first step of building a club that can have consistent success.
The only trouble with Sale taking this similar approach is that the standard has been set and it’s an unbelievably difficult one to live up to.
If the senior recruits don’t bring a move up the table or they stymie the opportunities the club’s academy players receive, Sale and Steve Diamond will be pilloried for it. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, especially when attempting to bridge the gap that Saracens – and Exeter – have created at the top of the table, but one that will be expected of them nonetheless.
Watch: Jim Hamilton speaks to Brad Barritt following Saracens’ Champions Cup triumph
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments