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The turned-down offer Jono Ross made to come out of retirement
Ex-Sale skipper Jono Ross contacted his former club recently with an offer to come out of retirement on a short-term basis. The Gallagher Premiership leaders learned in mid-November that they had lost Tom Curry for the season due to his need to have a hip operation.
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They spent the next few weeks pondering if they needed to recruit cover but they eventually decided that the resources they already had at the club would be sufficient to get them through the winter to the end of January break, by which time some other injured players would be back in the selection mix.
It has now emerged that the Sharks could have brought in ex-player Ross, who retired following last May’s Premiership final loss versus Saracens at Twickenham.
The 33-year-old had been at the club since 2017 but he decided to call time on his career and return to the family farm in South Africa while also taking up a position with Poseidon Logistics.
However, as soon as he heard Sale would be without Curry and might look to bring in cover on a short-term basis, he contacted the director of rugby Alex Sanderson to offer his services, an invitation that wasn’t taken up.
“When we were kind of looking at the market with Tom Curry being out, when we only needed someone for a few months, Jono Ross caught wind of it and sent an email,” revealed the Sale boss ahead of the club’s Investec Champions Cup opener versus Stade Francais on Sunday.
“He said he feels fitter and fresher than he ever felt, as he would lugging around fertilizer on the farm, but it’s different gravy when you get back into taking the hits like he does.
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“Just to let you know on that little ditty, he almost made a comeback but I don’t think we need him. Ernst van Rhyn is top of the charts for dominant tackles and for tackles made. He is doing the job for us at the moment. We are looking to have him.”
Stade arrived in Manchester having finished the opening nine-match Top 14 block in fifth position, just two points behind leaders Racing after six victories. They conceded just 153 points, the lowest concession in that league to leave Sanderson braced to encounter a typical Paul Gustard-coached opposition.
“We have got to be better at being able to contain sides with some of the flair and unpredictability that French sides offer,” he said. “Stade aren’t one of those sides.
“I’m not saying they are not a challenge. They are an unbelievable challenge for where they sit in the league but they are not typically a side that have been playing with that transitional flair that a Racing or a Toulouse play with.
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“Stade are a big, physical team. Best defence, best set-piece, kick the most. They have all the hallmarks of some part of Paul Gustard imprinted, so we expect a different kind of challenge this week.”
"We don't want to be the whipping boys of this group… that's proper motivation."
– Sale boss Alex Sanderson rates his team's chances in the #InvestecChampionsCup after last weekend's #GallagherPremiership battering at Harlequins. #SALvSFP pic.twitter.com/nhV0dZG5ac
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 7, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
39 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
37 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
39 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
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