Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'It went wrong for us against their set-piece power': Sale highlight why they got hit for six in France

By PA
(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Sale head coach Alex Sanderson pledged his team will bounce back from the bitter disappointment of their 45-21 Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final defeat at La Rochelle. A week after scoring six tries of their own in a 57-14 demolition of the Scarlets to reach the last eight for the first time in 15 years, Sale got hit for six themselves as the Jono Gibbes and Ronan O’Gara-inspired French side laid down their credentials with a first-ever trip into the final four.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sanderson, whose Sale team only trailed 18-16 at half-time before La Rochelle duo Raymond Rhule and Geoffrey Doumayrou both scored two second-half tries each, said: “I thought we were at the races after an extremely competitive first half in which we gave them some relatively soft tries. But we weren’t in the second half and we have to be better if we want to come to places like this in the future and win.

“We had parity in most of the collisions around the field, but it went wrong for us against their set-piece power. I knew the players would keep fighting and I was proud of their effort. It is a learning curve for us and you have to lose games like these before you can come back and win them. This is only the beginning for us and we will bounce back.”

Video Spacer

Northampton and Wales out-half Dan Biggar guests on RugbyPass All Access

Video Spacer

Northampton and Wales out-half Dan Biggar guests on RugbyPass All Access

Sanderson took off World Cup winner Faf de Klerk with 20 minutes to go as he tried everything he could to claw back the game. It was the first time in his twelve games in charge of the Sharks that Sanderson had seen his team concede more than four tries.

“They scored two quick tries in the second half that put us on the back foot and we weren’t sure about the slap down try in the first half,” said de Klerk. “La Rochelle are a good team and they played a great brand of rugby. I was disappointed to come off, but I back the coaches.”

La Rochelle may not have won the Champions Cup before, but Gibbes knows what it takes to go all the way from his time coaching at Leinster and O’Gara was a two-time winner in his Munster days. Currently sitting in second place in the Top 14 they have plenty of silverware in their eye line. “We needed a whole 80-minute performance because we knew it was going to be a stern test. We knew we had to use our strength, which is using the ball in hand,” said Gibbes.

“We have got to take confidence from the last few weeks. This will be our first semi-final and we have just created a little bit of history. We will keep on taking each 80 minutes at a time and make sure we leave the pitch with no regrets. We have passed a stern test and we need to use the energy of the last few weeks to get excited about the semi-final.”

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss Everyone is saying the same thing after agonising England loss
Search