'I’m no Andy Farrell am I? But I’d pick him'

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson believes George Ford is playing with a “bit between his teeth” and says the fly-half should be picked by Andy Farrell for the British and Irish Lions tour.

Ford put in a fantastic individual performance as Sharks stormed to a 39-15 victory over Newcastle at Kingston Park, converting all but one of their five tries and scoring two penalties.

A moment of individual brilliance saw the number 10 kick a pinpoint pass from the Newcastle tryline into Joe Carpenter, who grounded just within bounds in the right corner for Sale’s fifth and final try of the evening.

Speaking about Ford, Sanderson said: “How good is he? He’s been brilliant every time he’s played for us, he’s just not played a lot this year with a couple of niggles at the start of the year and going into the autumn he’s got the bit between his teeth.

“I can see it in his eyes how he’s galvanising the squad and driving them and being able to deliver a singular performance like that as well.”

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Ford has 99 Test caps for England and Sanderson believes he should be in with a shout for the upcoming Lions tour in Australia this summer.

“I’m no Andy Farrell am I? But I’d pick him,” Sanderson said.

“The form he’s in, if he plays like that next seven games it’s very hard not to pick him, the experience he’s got with 99 caps and what he gives you in the week.

“He’s like a coach in the field for you. You learn best from your peers and particularly in the Lions squad where you’ve got to bring people together, he’s a brilliant character at doing that.

“He helps me out all the time, I think there’s loads of factors that lean into him being a good option for the Lions.”

An impressive display from Sharks saw them hold a 17-point lead at half-time with tries from Bevan Rodd, Rob du Preez and Tom O’Flaherty along with Ford’s penalties.

Tadgh McElroy struck early into the second half and, while reduced to 14, Carpenter crossed for Sale to cruise to a seventh Premiership win of the season.

It was another difficult evening for Falcons, who had two tries through Cameron Neild and Richard Palframan.

They stay bottom of the table following a 10th league defeat and director of rugby Steve Diamond described the performance as “not good enough”.

He said: “Credit to Sale, they overpowered us in a couple of instances, super try with George Ford picking out a pinpoint accuracy kick.

“But we don’t take our opportunities, we were poor in defence, at sea a couple of times – certainly just before half time.

“We should’ve been more competitive than we were but we don’t think clearly under pressure and panic a little bit.

“We’ve not had sharp words in the changing room for a long time, but we’ve had them tonight.

“We’re better than that, the coaching staff are better than that and the players are, we know that. It’s not good enough for Newcastle.”