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Sanderson: 'I would rather look bad and win than look good and lose'

By PA
George Ford of Sale Sharks and Chris Cloete of Bath Rugby clash on the final whistle after the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Sale Sharks and Bath Rugby at AJ Bell Stadium on November 24, 2023 in Salford, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Director of rugby Alex Sanderson insisted he was not concerned by Sale’s faltering attack after the league leaders claimed a scrappy 11-9 Gallagher Premiership victory over Bath.

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The Sharks conceded five turnovers inside Bath’s 22 in the second half and needed George Ford’s 37-metre penalty with seven minutes remaining to snatch the points.

The visitors led for the majority of the top-of-the-table clash thanks to three Finn Russell penalties, while Sale’s Jonny Hill scored the only try of the game in the first half.

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Bath led 9-5 at the break and some desperate defending, including a 10-minute spell inside their own 22, kept them ahead before Ford sealed it.

Sanderson admitted there were areas to work on but as long as Sharks continued winning – this marked their sixth in seven league games – then he did not care how they did it.

“I would rather look bad and win than look good and lose,” he said.

“We found a way again, that is the third game of that nature where we have had to dig in and find a way to win through the set-piece.

“There was some George Ford magic at the end there and I am proud, very proud as always when they dig in like that and dominate the game physically – which I think they did – and territorially.

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“As the night went on, we had five turnovers on the 22 so we will need to fix that and go again, there is a lot more in us.

“There is no long-term concern but as always, there is a focus on that area after tonight. I think defensively they were really good, so we leaned on our scrum and set-piece, which were very good and George was excellent as well.”

This was not a match that will live long in the memory but come the end of the season, it could be significant.

Sale look set for another strong push after losing in last season’s final, while Bath again showed their impressive start to the season was not necessarily a flash in the pan.

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They are rebuilding under Johann Van Graan and – despite the defeat – the South African insisted they were on the right track.

“I feel proud, to come here and come so close is disappointing, but I have a lot of pride in the group,” he said.

“We kept the lead for 70-odd minutes, so that is tough to take but there is a lot of take from it.

“I believe we are on a journey, we are getting better and even though we lost tonight, we stayed in the fight and competed with the team on top of the lot.

“All credit to the defence, we stayed in the fight and when the top two teams play each other, it comes down to fine margins and some of our patches were terrific and so was our defence on the goalline.

“It came down to one penalty in the end.”

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john 342 days ago

Fantastic effort from sale it didn't go all our way but the will to win you could not fault awin is a win

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AM 7 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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