‘That’s not on us’: Sanderson responds to doubts over PREM

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson has insisted the Gallagher PREM remains a strong breeding ground for international rugby amid concerns that it is failing to adequately prepare players for the Test arena.

A discernible gap has opened up between English sides and those at the top table of European rugby over the past decade, while England have similarly fallen behind the highest-ranked Test nations.

It is no coincidence that England’s last Six Nations title came in the same year they last saw an English winner of the Investec Champions Cup, when Exeter Chiefs won their first European crown in 2020. Since then, only one English side has reached a final, while all six victors have come from France, with Leinster also making five finals. France, meanwhile, have won three of the past Six Nations, including the past two, with Ireland winning another two.

The Top 14’s financial advantage over the PREM is well documented, which has allowed the league to recruit some of the top players in the game. But questions have also lingered as to whether the high-scoring try-fests the PREM has seen in recent years translate to European competitions or is conducive to creating a Test-match environment.

But Sanderson believes that both the “standard and intensity” of the PREM has increased, but has stressed the importance of how the matches are officiated in creating a product comparable to international rugby.

While Sanderson believes the quality is there in the PREM, he also presented the other side of the coin: Steve Borthwick and the England coaching team must get the best out of those players. This was not necessarily a criticism of the England head coach, but rather an observation that it is a two-way street in the ever-present question of whether the PREM is preparing players for international rugby.

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“I think the standard and intensity of the PREM have increased,” Sanderson said ahead of the new PREM season. “That’s one factor with international rugby, the speed’s quicker than the PREM and the physicality is more intense.

“Then there’s the nature and the style and the strategy. That comes down in part to how it’s refereed, so we had a conversation around the kind of product that we want to put out there and the nuances and interpretations of the Laws and whether we can align that with an international referee.

“Then the other part comes down to coaching. That’s not on us, that’s on Steve and his group. He’s got quite an experienced group there. You have to shape your strategy for the group you have and who you’re playing against.

“I think we’re providing a good platform; there are good enough players who are good enough to do a job and pull together.”