Sale Sharks v Harlequins | Matchday Programme

Loyal supporters of local businesses and communities for over 90 years, we help our clients face the future with greater confidence. THE GALLAGHER WAY. SINCE 1927.

BROKER INSURANCE TRUSTED YOUR

ALEX SANDERSONDIRECTOR OF RUGBY

A WORD FROM THE AXE

Harlequins are well known, with good reason, as one of the best teams to watch and this will be a big test for our lads today. Tabai Matson and his coaches have built a brilliant team and I’m sure they’ll be desperate to bounce back after a home defeat against Leicester last week.

Quins are able to throw what I call ‘lightning bolts’ and score from anywhere at any moment in the game. They score the most tries from turnover and the most from first phase in the league. Tabai and his team prepare their players really well for how they want to play the game.

We’ve maybe not had as much credit for our attacking as the lads have deserved this season, but I’m quite happy for that side of our game to fly under the radar. We go about it a little bit differently, but we have evolved that side of the game this season and the evidence is in the number of tries and points we’ve scored. The points difference shows that we’re doing something right and key to that has been the form, leadership and decision making of Rob du Preez.

Joe Carpenter gets another chance to see what he can do today. Seeing the way he’s taken to the Premiership has been so good to watch. He might seem like a new signing to people outside the club who don’t know much about him, but we’ve been watching him in training for a while now and his performances don’t surprise me. He’s loving it at the moment and it’s giving us all a buzz.

The whole squad has a belief at the moment that comes with winning, but it’s at half-time that we’re hearing it and feeling it the most. We’ve been so good in the second half of games this season and that’s down to the players and their composure and commitment to the gameplan. There’s so much belief in each other and in what we’re all striving for.

I’m seeing that come through more and more, especially in the difficult moments. We really feel that focusing on our mental preparedness, resilience, and reflection is the area where we can make the biggest strides in a game that has general

WELCOME BACK TO THE AJ BELL STADIUM FOR A GAME THAT NEVER FAILS TO DELIVER A FANTASTIC SPECTACLE.

equality around things like strength and conditioning and diet. What we’re seeing at half-time tells me that we’re seeing the benefits of all that work.

After the game last week we were fearing the worst with Akker van der Merwe’s injury. It looked like his knee and his ankle might have gone but the news this week has been much better. We’re expecting him to be missing for four weeks at the most and that’s a massive relief because he’s been so good for us this season.

Since we spoke last, another Premiership club in Wasps has gone into administration. In one respect I’m still in denial – is it really happening? Well, unfortunately it is and my heart goes out to all the players, staff and coaches who are out of a job. Because of how good they are, I have no doubt they’ll get back into the game but it might be tough in the short term.

The game and the level of rugby is as good as it’s ever been on the pitch, but clearly there’s something going wrong off it. With the short term, immense pain, I sincerely hope that something good comes from it.

I speak to our owners regularly and they have given me every assurance – and I hope this reassures you – that we are strong and they are fully invested in what we’re doing. We’re very lucky in that sense.

Today is the first of a series of big games for us, and we’ll know a lot more about our squad depth after we’ve been down to Saracens and Gloucester. They know what the next four weeks will look like for them and I promise you, they’re ready.

Enjoy the game, Al

JOE CARPENTER

CARPENTER NAILING IT

It’s been a whirlwind start to his Premiership career for full-back Joe Carpenter, with two tries in three matches to go with his man of the match display on his debut against Exeter.

Leeds-born Joe has had to be patient as injuries have delayed his ascent to the first team picture. But after Luke James picked up an ankle injury, the talented 21-year-old has taken his chance with both hands.

He said: “I’m delighted with the way I’ve started. It’s a winning environment and that’s made it easier for me to slot in. The boys started the season so well so I could just focus on doing my job. “It’s all about confidence and momentum for the young lads.

Alex said he’d watched me at Sale FC and obviously in the Premiership Cup and he was really happy with how I’d gone. Luke James unfortunately went down and that gave me a chance.

“It has been a great challenge so far, especially playing against guys like Stuart Hogg and Freddie Steward. I guess you do want to ‘one-up’ your opposite number but I wasn’t really thinking about who I was playing against.

I LOVE THE BUZZ WHEN WE RUN OUT IN FRONT OF THE CROWD AT THE AJ BELL. WHEN I WAS ON LOAN I’D COME TO GAMES AND SEE THE FLAMES AND ALL THE CROWDS AND I WANTED IT SO MUCH.

“It was about sticking to my job, catching the high balls, make my tackles and doing what I had to do. More often than not, if you stick to basics and do them well you’ll come up with a win. At the moment all the boys are getting

their roles right and we want to keep that going.

“Game time at Sale FC was crucial for me and my development. When you come into this professional environment at a young age you don’t get a game every week and being on loan is great experience. It’s a lower level but you get a lot of the same pictures and the same match situations.

“You have box kicks, kicking battles, opportunities to run in the same way. Alex has shown that the lads who get it right at Sale FC or on loan at other clubs will get chances in the first team here.”

Joe began his journey at West Park Leeds RUFC, before joining the Yorkshire Carnegie academy at the age of 15. He joined the Sharks Academy in 2020 after the pandemic forced the Carnegie academy to fold.

He said: “For me the transition from Yorkshire to Sale was quite smooth. It’s not too far from home and I knew some of the lads from playing international age grade rugby. I moved in with Tom Roebuck, who I knew, then Raffi and James Harper moved in. We were all good friends from England camps so it was quite easy.

“A lot of us have grown up together and so to play in the Premiership with your mates is really special. We’re all really close and we want to put performances in and win for each other.

“I love the buzz when we run out in front of the crowd at the AJ Bell. When I was on loan I’d come

to games and see the flames and all the crowds and I wanted it so much. Now I’ve got my chance but once the whistle goes it’s all about doing it on the field and doing my job for the team.

“Injuries have been tough to deal with but it is a part of the game. It was frustrating me. I’d have a month of good training and then pick up another injury. I felt like I couldn’t get any momentum, but I’ve worked so hard with all the coaches and the S+C staff and I feel confident now that we have a plan to manage my body and my recovery.”

There were five Sharks in Eddie Jones’ latest England squad, but Joe says focusing on his Sharks form is his only focus at the moment.

He added: “It’s everyone’s dream to play for their country and I’m no different. Watching guys like Raffi and Bevan get

their chance with England is inspiring. They’ve worked so hard and they deserve their chances but I’ve only played three Premiership games.

“My focus is on getting better every week and playing well every week for Sale.”

And so to today’s game against a Quins team who are smarting from a home defeat against Leicester in Round Six.

He said: “Quins have scored the most tries off turnover and off first phase so we need to make sure we’re not giving the likes of Smith and Marchant chances in the open field. We know where our strengths are we know we need to keep control and make sure we keep asking them to do things they don’t want to do.

“Everyone is flying at the moment and we can’t wait for the next game.”

INTERVIEW BY KIERAN CRICHARD

POWERING SMALL BUSINESSES AND THE RUGBY COMMUNITY

We’ve partnered with Premiership Rugby to celebrate the small business and rugby communities, and show how living your values brings success on and off the pitch.

Funding Circle is the UK’s #1 platform for business finance, offering loans of £10,000-£750,000 at fixed rates. To see how you could get a lending hand, visit fundingcircle.com

Based on 12,745 reviews

FROM THE SHARK TANK

The good times just keep on rolling! It’s hard to remember a better time to be a Sale fan in the last few years than right now, as the bonus point wins continue to come thick and fast.

Last Friday night under the lights against London Irish saw Sale dominate in defence, win collisions and still continue to put together the slick and expansive attacking moves which have come to define the new season. And yet, as we said on this week’s pod and on Twitter, we didn’t really manage to get out of more than 3rd gear which leaves plenty of room for improvement going into this week.

Still, five tries and five points when you’re not out of 3rd gear is just yet more cause for optimism. The strength in depth of the team is really coming through as we see Raffi and Gus now fighting it out for the 9 shirt having both put in superb performances over the last few weeks. Rob continues to run the game at 10 and is releasing a now very dangerous set of outside backs – Joe Carpenter can’t stop scoring! But it’s all been built on some mammoth efforts from the forwards, in particular the two sets of twins who are a perpetual

nightmare for opposition teams. The number of times Irish were sent back behind the gainline on Friday night in both attack and defence, is a credit to their carrying power and ability. That is also interlaced with dynamism and athleticism around the park which makes us a massive threat in any conditions.

Putting the performance we did in against Irish has, unsurprisingly, brought us into the

OUR WEEKLY GUEST SPOT FROM THE PODCASTING SUPERFANS OVER AT THE SHARK TANK, THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE OF RUGBY PODCASTING, WITH A DETAILED, IRREVERENT AND OCCASSIONALLY CYNICAL LOOK AT ALL THINGS SALE SHARKS.

media spotlight – not something we’re used to! Frankly there was a time when this podcast was about as much media coverage as the club got but it’s great to see that changing and we’re now naturally getting the uncomfortable talk about expectations for the season. It’s always a challenge to keep up the form and intensity when you get to this level and we’ll need to rely on those who’ve done it before in similar environments like Jonny Hill, Tom O’Flaherty, George Ford and of course our DoR himself to keep feet on the group and minds focused – next game, next game, next game...

Speaking of such, we welcome a Quins team who probably won’t thank us for riling up their opponents last week – our victory over Leicester seems to have inspired them to go down to the Stoop and take out all their frustration there. Quins as always remain an incredibly exciting team for the neutral (and an incredibly dangerous team for Sale) with the class of Care and Smith bringing unpredictability and energy into every play. Watch out too for Andre Esterhuizen, who is cementing his place as one of the signings of the last few years, and Caden Murley, who has received a well deserved England call up as he continues to score tries for fun.

All of it should make for a cracker of a game and a real test of our newfound attacking abilities, so all that’s left to say is let’s be loud and proud behind the boys and come on you Sharks!

Alex, James and Lewis

TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST, CLICK HERE:

The home of domestic rugby

PLAY LIKE THE PROS

OFFICIAL RUGBY CAMPS

Develop your rugby skills with players and coaches from England’s leading clubs. There are camps across the country for children aged 6-17. For more info visit WWW.RUGBYCAMPS.COM

MATCHDAY

MaSCOt

JOSEPH

NAME: JOSEPH EMBLEM AGE: 11 (ON THE 24TH OCTOBER) POSITION: FLY HALF CLUB: SEFTON RFU IN LIVERPOOL

FAVOURITE SHARKS: RAFFI QUIRKE & ROB DU PREEZ

Joseph really enjoys playing rugby along side his little brother Oliver and little sister Betty. They’ve even been nicknamed the Curry Brothers by their friends!

NAME: DEXTER LUDLAIM AGE: 6

FAVOURITE SHARK: MANU TUILAGI

DEXTER

NAME: DAISE MAI MARTIN AGE: 6

FAVOURITE SHARKS: THE CURRY TWINS AND THE JAMES BROTHERS

DAISIE

FIVE SHARKS SWIMMING IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS

TOM CURRY, JONNY HILL, RAFFI QUIRKE, BEVAN RODD AND MANU TUILAGI JOINED UP WITH THE ENGLAND SQUAD THIS WEEK FOR A FIVE-DAY TRAINING CAMP IN JERSEY.

The 36-player squad will return to the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park next week, ahead of their first game against Argentina on Sunday 6 November.

There is a first call-up for Harlequins’ Cadan Murley, with the wing having previously represented England at U18 and U20s level. Elsewhere Val Rapava Ruskin, Raffi Quirke and Kyle Sinckler return to the squad, whilst Owen Farrell (97) and Courtney Lawes (96) could both reach 100 Test caps for England during the Autumn Nations Series.

After their Argentina opener, England host Japan on Saturday 12 November (KO 3.15pm) before taking on New Zealand (Saturday 19 November – KO 5.30pm) and lastly world champions South Africa (Saturday 26 November – KO 5.30pm).

“This is a very strong, vibrant squad and a number of good players have been left out. We are pleased with the depth and the strength of the squad,” said Jones.

“The autumn internationals will be like a mini Rugby World Cup for us, starting with two tough games against Argentina and Japan which mirrors our Pool fixtures at next year’s tournament. Then we’ll have knock out type games against New Zealand and South Africa – all four games will be great tests for us.

“In Jersey we’ll start the week with Misogi activity where the players will find out about themselves and each other. Then we’ll rip into training for the rest of the week, so the team can come together on and off the pitch.

“We’re very pleased to be going back to Jersey and to a good Championship club in Jersey Reds who are very supportive of us and of the local rugby community.

THIS IS A VERY STRONG, VIBRANT SQUAD AND A NUMBER OF GOOD PLAYERS HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT. WE ARE PLEASED WITH THE DEPTH AND THE STRENGTH.

EDDIE JONES England Rugby Head Coach

We’ve been made to feel very welcome there and look forward to our return.”

Danny Kerry MBE has joined the England staff as training coordinator. Kerry previously spent 17 years at Great Britain Hockey, where he was the most successful coach in their history – including leading Team GB’s women’s field hockey to a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Joe Lewis will move to a full-time senior analyst role, working closely with forwards coaches Richard Cockerill and Matt Proudfoot.

Jones said: “I’ve known Danny for a long time and his depth and breadth of coaching knowledge will be a real asset to us as staff as we work towards becoming the best coaching team in the world. Joe will move back to an analyst role where he has a real impact and suits his strengths and skills.”

Convert to our full fibre broadband today

contracts

MATCH REPORT SHARKS WOMEN

V SARACENS

DISAPPOINTING RESULT FOR THE SALE SHARKS AS SARACENS TOOK A BONUS POINT WIN AT HEYWOOD ROAD ON SATURDAY IN THE THIRD ROUND OF THE ALLIANZ CUP.

14-33

The contest between the two teams was tight during the first half with Saracens starting strong, with Abi Evans scoring in the opening two minutes.

Sale Sharks quickly respond to Saracens attacking threat and kept composure to string together an excellent string of play to allow Willow Bell to cross the whitewash. Followed by, Captain Lauren Delany, showcasing her experience as a great attacking backline threat. Creating an outstanding individual kick chase try to bring Sale back into the match. Both of Sale tries were supported by pinpoint conversions by Sharks 10, Cara Cookland.

At half time it was all to play for as Sharks fell just behind with 14 points to Saracens 19. However, Saracens started the second half with a powerful attacking line, spreading the play out wide making it difficult for Sale to defend.

Head Coach Rachel Taylor acknowledges Sale could have ‘kicked on a little bit’ in the second quarter as Saracens proved dominant in their scrum which Sale struggled to uphold and reclaim possession.

Talking with Rachel after the match, she was really pleased with the overall performance from the Sharks.

She said ‘We are looking to build strength and depth in our squad to compete in the league season, eight of the playing group were new season signings and we played a young squad. With these new signings rotation in our team is paying off, as it’s creating more competition for places and game time which only in the long term enhances performance’.

NEXT MATCH:

UNIVERSITY

Facing a surge in demand?

confidence in your internal hiring team?

difficulty

or

spend?

Untap possibility.

Take away the headache...

We exist to solve your end to end talent challenges RPOne, the boutique RPO brand of Morson Group, adds value throughout the entire recruitment journey with custom made solutions that enrich your business with insight, talent and capability, for today, tomorrow and the future.

Our team is your team; your ambitions are our ambitions. Let’s achieve them together.

quickly to

P O W E R E D B Y M O R S O N

WELCOME

LOOK FOWARD TO HEARING YOU IN THE STANDS TONIGHT!

YOUR SHARKS

FORWARDS

GEORGE ARNOLD

ROUBAN BIRCH

BEN BAMBER

EWAN ASHMAN

ETHAN CAINE

JOSH BEAUMONT

DOM BARROW

BEN CARLILE

PATREECE BELL

ELLIS CAUSEY

HUW DAVIES

JAMES HARPER

SAM DUGDALE

BEN CURRY

DAN DU PREEZ

ROSS HARRISON

CAL FORD

TOM CURRY

JEAN-LUC DU PREEZ

JONNY HILL

ALEX GROVES

JOE JONES

YANDE NKONGE

JONO ROSS

MATT POSTLETHWAITE

SIMON MCINTYRE

TUMY ONASANYA

NICK SCHONERT

WILL RILEY

EWAN MURPHY

COENIE OOSTHUIZEN

TOMMY TAYLOR

BEVAN RODD

BACKS

HARRY THOMPSON

TRISTAN WOODMAN

CONNOR DOHERTY

JOE CARPENTER

AKKER VAN DER MERWE

ROB DU PREEZ

WILL CLIFF

COBUS WIESE

JOE BEDLOW

GEORGE FORD

TOM CURTIS

ELLIOT GOURLAY

SAM JAMES

ARRON REED

TOM O’FLAHERTY

SAM HILL

BYRON MCGUIGAN

TOM ROEBUCK

AARON POPE

LUKE JAMES

BEN MOTAMED

JOE SIMPSON

RAFFI QUIRKE

NYE THOMAS

CHARLIE WARDLE

MANU TULAGI

KIERAN WILKINSON

GUS WARR

JASON WOODWARD

STAY UP TO DATE ON ALL THE LATEST SHARKS NEWS WITH SHARK BITES!

AS CAPABLE ON -ROAD AS OFF IT

Emissions 57-340 g/km. The figures provided are as a result of official manufacturer’s tests in accordance with EU legislation. may vary according to factors such as driving styles, environmental conditions, load, wheel fitment and accessories fitted.