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'They're a massive benchmark, always were for Saracens and now hopefully Sale'
Alex Sanderson can’t wait to see his promising Sale team play Exeter twice on consecutive weekends. The Sharks head to the Chiefs this Saturday for a final regulation season round fixture amid the prospect the same two sides will clash again in next weekend’s Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
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There was still an opportunity on Saturday morning that a win for Exeter and a defeat for the table-topping Bristol would see the defending champions finish on top and leave Sale facing an away semi-final at the Bears.
However, with Bristol’s home game versus London Irish cancelled at the eleventh hour, it is expected that the Bears will receive four points for the cancellation which would mean that Exeter would be unable to overtake Pat Lam’s team at the top and clinch a home semi-final versus the fourth place Harlequins.
Instead, it means that the main question to be answered when Exeter host Sale is whether the Chiefs can hold onto second, a position they could lose if the Sharks come away with a bonus-point victory as five points separate the teams going into the match.
Sale falling short of that target would result in them having to return to Sandy Park next weekend for the semi-finals. Wherever that game is staged, though, Sanderson can’t wait to see his team going up against the same opposition two weekends in a row, an opposition that became Saracens’ biggest domestic rivals when the Sale boss worked there as an assistant to Mark McCall.
Alex Sanderson's live TV revelation about young Bevan Rodd has had consequences https://t.co/rnSUWweu7U
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 11, 2021
Asked by RugbyPass for his thoughts on Exeter and the old rivalry from his days with Saracens, Sanderson said: “We know what we have got to do this weekend, best case get the five points and there is a semi-final looming and all of that. Strip all that away because it really is all irrelevant and it brings it back to the challenge that you have and Exeter have probably been the most consistent team over the course of the last seven, eight years. They are a massive benchmark, they always were the benchmark for Saracens and now hopefully for Sale moving forward.
“You want to play against the best and you use them to gauge yourself. You use them as a present to push yourself, that is what the best competition is. So it’s not the same rivalry because I guess Exeter have never been that afraid of playing us. I hope moving forward they will be (afraid).”
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Sanderson never finished a Premiership season facing the opposition Saracens would play in the semi-finals the previous week in round 22 of the league, but he has likened the Sale-Exeter double match-up as similar to the traditional back-to-back December weekends in the Heineken Champions Cup. “No (it didn’t happen with Saracens), but I love it, I absolutely love it. I have been in Champions Cup situations where you are playing back-to-back and it adds an extra element to your coaching, to your mentality. Geez, like if we get it right we are a physical team and I don’t know any team that wants to come and play us twice. But then I don’t know the minds of others, I’m not a mind reader.”
Sale and Exeter have each made four changes to the starting XVs that respectively beat Harlequins and Northampton in round 21. For the Sharks, midfielder Manu Tuilagi and openside Tom Curry return at the expense of Rob du Preez and Ben Curry, with Arron Reed replacing Marland Yarde on the wing and Cobus Wiese on for Josh Beaumont at lock.
RugbyPass Offload EP 33 with Jack Nowell & Freddie Burns ?
Massively excited to announce @nowellsy15 as a new panellist on the podcast ?
Jack talks us through his return from injury while we are also joined by Freddie Burns fresh from Japan ??
?? – https://t.co/Jk2H9HA0ci pic.twitter.com/g39WMcNQzf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
17 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
17 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
7 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
7 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
17 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
17 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
7 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
17 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
17 Go to comments