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Sale flanker Ben Curry has revealed some “really brutal” conversations between players led to the club’s remarkable run to the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.
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The Sharks face a trip to Bath in their semi-final after pulling off a stunning victory at Saracens to ensure they finished the regular season on an impressive run of five straight wins.
Sale looked out of the reckoning when they lost six games on the bounce, but that prompted some harsh truths between the playing squad.
Curry admits some meetings caused an “awkward” atmosphere in camp but they have since come out the other side.
He told the PA news agency: “It was post-Bath (a 42-24 loss in March). We took it to another level when we had player meetings and they were really brutal. Lads were calling each other out and I think it’s always a bit awkward at first, but that’s not what we expect.
“The atmosphere is awkward at first, we weren’t all best mates initially. But it’s coming from a good place, we’ve set our standards at the start of the year.
“But then slowly, off the back of six losses you’re like ‘our standards have slipped and it’s hard to pinpoint where it happened’. It was awkward in the changing rooms for a bit – but results have helped.”
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Sale were in a rut going into the Six Nations break having lost five on the spin before the 42-24 defeat to Bath that prompted the crunch talks.
A crushing 41-5 victory against Exeter the following weekend seemed to flick a switch in the Sale camp and results snowballed as they snatched an unlikely play-off berth.
Curry added: “That Six Nations break came at a good time for us.
“You get to the third loss and it’s in the back of your mind and when you go through four, five and six it’s really bad. It shows how strong the mind is though in terms of sport in that it can turn into a snowball either way.
“There was a proper feeling of lads taking accountability for the rugby and we’ve definitely taken ourselves to another level in terms of our standards. I’m very proud of the lads for that.”
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Curry played his part with two tries in his last four games and the England international is proud of his performances this season, despite not having the smoothest year.
He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my rugby a lot this year. I came into the season with a hamstring tear, came back from that and I was very proud to be part of the Six Nations squad.
“It didn’t quite work out, I got injured and pulled out of that then we lost six games in a row – it’s been an unbelievable season with quite a lot of negatives looking back.
“To be in this position, it’s been a season that has tested my resilience but I’m very proud of myself. It hasn’t been perfect and they are probably the ones where you learn a lot more about yourself.”
