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Sanderson: Sale red card may have been UFC inspired
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson admitted that mixed martial artist Byron McGuigan let his frustration boil over after the Sharks wing was sent off in a 25-14 Gallagher Premiership defeat at Saracens.
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McGuigan was dismissed in the 46th minute for striking Nick Tompkins from behind and throwing the Wales centre to the floor, before then propelling him into the side hoarding at StoneX Stadium.
It was undebatable red card even allowing for minor provocation from Tompkins and it came at a point when Sale trailed 13-0 despite controlling territory and possession.
“Byron trains at UFC on his time off so maybe he just had a flash-back of some sort of ultimate fighting session he’s done. I haven’t spoken to him,” Sanderson said.
“He’s a great lad, one of the hardest workers. The emotion, the occasion, the fact we hadn’t scored – I was feeling that too – probably got the better of him.”
Soon after McGuigan’s dismissal, Billy Vunipola created a try for Sean Maitland that nudged Saracens 18-0 ahead but Sale refused to give up and they hit back with tries from Ben Curry and Raffi Quirke that sandwiched a score for Max Malins.
It was a disappointing end to Sanderson’s return to the club where he spent 13 years as an assistant coach but with the Sharks now facing a bye week, the club intend to make the most of their time in the capital.
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“We’ve got some big plans. We’ve got an invasion of London planned. We’re in The Ship in Wandsworth tonight (Sunday) to lick our wounds, commiserate and come together again,” Sanderson said.
It's gone from bad to worst for Sale! ?
Byron McGuigan is shown a straight red after a shocking body slam-type challenge on Nick Tompkins ?#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/CI7BSdZHQp
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 28, 2021
“Then we’ve got a rat race and are going to the magical world of Winter Wonderland tomorrow – so we’ve got that to look forward to. Then it’s a couple of days off and we’re into prepping for Ospreys.”
Vunipola provided the moment of the match in the 50th minute when he dummied his way through Sale’s midfield and sent a long, floated pass to Sean Maitland for the Scotland wing to complete a simple finish.
It completed Vunipola’s recovery from a minor knee injury and was a reminder to England boss Eddie Jones that he has a rugby brain as well as brawn
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“Billy was really good again and it is a series of games he has put together for the club all season,” Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said.
“He has been inspirational for us all the way through. Eddie has just asked him to keep on backing up performances and he certainly did that.”
Apart from the result, McCall saw plenty wrong on an afternoon when Saracens returned to second in the table.
“The first half was really good. It’s as good as we’ve been physically all season and you have to be against Sale because they’re a really confrontational and physical aside,” McCall said.
“But I’m really disappointed with how we managed the second half and how we were all the way through it.
“It’s bit of a symptom of our season so far, we’ve been hot and cold in a lot of matches and the last 25 minutes didn’t feel very good.”
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
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