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Investec Champions Cup

'Half their team is shark bait, so you can't go after half a team'

By PA

06 Apr 2021

(Photo by PA)

Sale boss Alex Sanderson has underlined the importance of boxing smart in Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final clash against La Rochelle. It is 15 years since the Sharks reached the last-eight of European club rugby’s blue riband event, while a semi-final appearance would be uncharted territory.

Standing between them and achieving that aim is a team lying second in the French Top 14. Like Sale, La Rochelle have a heavyweight, intensely physical pack and are among five French teams alongside Clermont, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Racing 92 targeting a place in the final four.

Sale progressed from the first knockout round by crushing Welsh challengers Scarlets 57-14, while La Rochelle saw off Gloucester at Kingsholm. “Their abundant strengths are obvious,” Sale rugby director Sanderson said. “It is a massively different challenge to what we faced last week, and one up from what we face in the Premiership, the calibre of player and physicality that they have.

Devin Toner guests on RugbyPass All Access talking about freak athlete second rows

“But I guess you have got to ask yourself is there any other team in the Premiership that is more suited to matching them physically, bar us? I don’t believe there is. You have got to do it as a collective, so if we are going to win this it is going to be a collective effort over some individual brilliance.

“It is understanding the opposition threats, nullifying those threats and then imposing your own strengths on the opposition. There is no point going in against another heavyweight and trying to slug it out. I don’t believe that’s the way. There are tactics and boxing smart here.

ICYMI: Ahead of Friday's game at Gloucester, @SkeltonWilliam spoke w/ @heagneyl ??? on:

Leaving @Saracens
Life at @staderochelais
Size 19 boots ?
Tackle height & 'big boys having no excuse'
His battle with diet ???
Best & worse Sarries COD players ? https://t.co/Bjdo9coewW

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 1, 2021

“It is so difficult to focus on one or two when they have got power and offload ability across the board. We have got this thing called shark bait where we look to target a few players that give teams momentum. Well, half the team is shark bait this weekend, so you can’t go after half a team.”

Whatever happens in France this weekend, it will be another important staging post for Sale. Sanderson added: “We feel like we are creating something here – it’s just that no one has been paying that much attention to us – but now they are because we are in the quarter-finals.

“It’s brilliant to be under the radar, to be honest. But you don’t want that forever, do you, because it is important the lads get some recognition for their efforts. I guess once you get to a quarter-final, no one is underappreciated or underrated because you have to be a good team to get there. For us, there is an energy and excitement about how special the occasion is on Saturday.”

The veteran referee has tweeted twice about last Sunday's incident at Scarlets #SCAvSAL #HeinekenChampionsCup
https://t.co/QmuFJEAmkY

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 6, 2021

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Comments on RugbyPass

Another 16 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

One of the reasons why Borthwick is down to 50% is because they lost 3-0 to NZ this year. They still beat Ireland earlier this year though.

33 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 17 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Timing old bean! They’ve got a few rather decent ones coming through the pipe from their u20 world champ team.

33 Go to comments

d 20 minutes ago

Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

SO what you're saying is that all Robertson needs to change is; virtually every player in the side. well that's useful, where are these supermen coming from?

34 Go to comments

Mitch 21 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

How is that England can't produce a tight head prop who can usurp Dan Cole in the pecking order?

33 Go to comments

RedWarrior 25 minutes ago

Rob Kearney’s All Blacks verdict: ‘They're scared of Ireland now...’

“Of course, they will always point to the last two quarter-finals of the World Cup which is what matters, but they will be coming to Dublin a little bit scared of what could potentially happen. And we’ll be scared to because the Irish team are always scared coming up against them.”

So he actually said BOTH Ireland and New Zealand will have trepidation going into this match. Same as any big match so.

1 Go to comments

RedWarrior 27 minutes ago

Would a Springboks B team really conquer the world?

Can you relay which "Irish" have said this? News to me.

I have stated that it is not the meritocracy it claims to be due to the draw and scheduling.

The 2023 draw was made right after the 2019 WC so I can substantiate that claim. For example Scotland who were 4th seed when the RWC started finished in joined 16th position. This was not a reflection of their ability: the draw meant they had to play two of the big 4 and bear at least one to have a chance of making a top 8.

Careful when you are sh1t talking the Irish. There are a few of us around here now.

34 Go to comments

RW 30 minutes ago

How the All Blacks plan to challenge Ireland after gutsy England win

31 Go to comments

RedWarrior 33 minutes ago

Would a Springboks B team really conquer the world?

They would all walk into The Irish or French first team? Come on..

34 Go to comments

RedWarrior 34 minutes ago

Would a Springboks B team really conquer the world?

That is a common thought around Internet fora but bears little resemblance to reality.

There may be issue on front row (being sorted) potentially but apart from that is incredibly strong.

B--Frawley/Prendergast, Murray/Casey, McCloskey, Henshaw, Nash, O'Brien, Osborne

F--McCarthy, Jager, Loughman, Baird, Kelleher, Izuchuckwu, Coombes, C. Prendergast,

Over half of those names finished for an injury struck Ireland in the win V SA in Durban.

34 Go to comments

LW 39 minutes ago

How the All Blacks plan to challenge Ireland after gutsy England win

Vaai is finally having his breakout year getting comfortable and showing great form at lock, and there are form players and experience all across the backrow, why on earth would you drop him to 6. Ridiculous

31 Go to comments

Another 44 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

So far, the All Blacks have won 8 matches out of 11 this year. That is a near 73% win rate. AB fans and, I assume, the team itself are not content with that and have everything to play for with the remaining 3 tests this year.

Their historical average is something like 77% these days and, although some years will always be better than others it is not likely to drop that dramatically to 70% any time soon. There is too much historical inertia on the stats. It is like saying Ireland’s form of the last 10 years or so is likely to reverse a historical average of 48% wins soon. It just isn’t.

Moreover, when you say they are ‘doomed’ to a 70% flatline are you not just assuming that Ireland will beat them again? How did that work out for you last time?

33 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 49 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Yeah but that means playing an imbalance of games between conferences and for me it just starts to undermine sporting integrity. Much prefer a solution that’s sharper and more crisp. But you can’t always have everything I guess…

33 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 58 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Munster were a B/academy mix…

33 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 1 hour ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Tbf the one point that does have a ring of truth to it is the Irish rush D. They live right on the edge and often get the benefit of the doubt for too long in games because refs are under pressure to try and manage the flow of games. Similar issue at rucks where Ireland are absolute masters at protecting the ball but go off feet way more often than they are pinged for. I guess you could argue they are simply maximising the benefits of the full circumstances but it is damn infuriating at times too…!

33 Go to comments

Ed the Duck 1 hour ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

And as for Saturday, England absolutely should have won it at the death, but only one team came to play rugby…and it wasn’t England! NZ totally deserving winners.

Borthwick has got it wrong, so very wrong. From what I hear camp has regressed and become an unhappy place once more. You only need to look at Marler’s abrupt departure when the team was named in camp and the grenade he lobbed on his way out the door that effectively retired him from test rugby! It was clear that he was livid at missing out on his match fee (no longer paid unless you’re in the 23 or on an eps contract apparently). Introducing a two tier system on the eve of the AIs was total madness!!! And then there’s selection. Slade wasn’t anywhere near ready, neither was Ford and hooking smith when the game is in the balance was beyond comprehension. Even if he needed to do that, fin smith steered his team adroitly to the Prem last year but was nowhere to be seen.

Then there’s his game plan. England looked like they were in danger of making real progress towards the end of the 6N but Saturday was the antithesis of that approach. There wasn’t an attack visible that was worthy of the description.

Borthwicks win rate is now abysmally low and this is beginning to look like it only end badly…

33 Go to comments

dw 1 hour ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Reminds me a little of our cricket teams in late 90s early 2000s. Everyone expected us to win every test but eventually we stopped being unbeatable.

Nz also seem to be relying on older players for some positions too. Who else can play 10 outside Barrett and D mac?

33 Go to comments

Head high tackle 1 hour ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

The thing is MQ that the 85% was the anomaly. It was an unprecedented run of excellence that may never be repeated. To judge any sports team on their best ever period is only going to lead to disappointment. Im happy with the 75% mark which is NZs average in its rugby history. Foster was always on a hiding to nothing.

Slipping is relevent if you only look back to 2010 or there abouts thru to 2018. A freakish period of success really. It never was the norm and will probably never be seen again over the extended period it was. Teams can have great runs thru 12-18 mths but 8-10 years of dominance is unheard of generally.

33 Go to comments