SALE SHARK S V GLOUCESTER RUGBY Friday 3rd November, KO: 19:45
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A WORD FROM THE A XE WELCOME BACK to the Salford Stadium for another exciting encounter under the Friday night lights against a Gloucester team who will bring a real attacking challenge for us. Like us, they lost last week and I’m expecting a reaction from them, but I know you’ll see a big reaction and a big performance from us too. George Skivington has built a really good team and the stats tell you that games between us and them are always tight. They’ve got a back line that can attack with width and pace, and we’ll have to get our defence right. We want to force them to attack in a way they don’t want to do. It all comes down to the gain-line collision and the set-piece. Both teams will come with a point to prove and there’s going to be a battle up front. Some of the motivation for us to put in a performance comes down to what happened last weekend at Sandy Park.
WE’LL USE ALL THE EMOTION AND DISAPPOINTMENT FROM LAST WEEK. I KNOW WE’LL GET A BIG REACTION FROM OUR LADS.
Honestly, I didn’t think we had a drubbing like that in us but in this league you don’t have to be a long way off, to be a long way off. It’s so competitive. But we aspire to be better and our intent as a club is to make sure that is the last one.
edge we can. But we want to do it in the right manner. We don’t want to become desperate, we want to be deliberate and it’s about using those emotions in the right way.
We’ll be using the disappointment and the emotions that we felt at the end of the game to gain whatever
In the first three minutes last weekend, I thought ‘we’re not at the races’ here. The set piece was
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off and we lost a collision around a ruck, which was disappointing. We wanted to start fast and we didn’t. I took ownership for my own part that I had to play in that. You have to look at yourself and what you could have done differently and the preparation during the week wasn’t quite right. We take ownership as coaches in terms of the messaging and the quality of some of the training wasn’t up to standard. We didn’t train well and probably went in with a false confidence. That’s the first thing. Then we had a couple of late changes that added to the maelstrom of a perfect storm. The most rewarding aspect was the reaction of the players. Immediately after that game Rob du Preez, the captain, grabbed them all in and said, ‘it’s on us, not them’, meaning the coaches. They took ownership for their part and that’s the most rewarding aspect of working with a group like this. We are in it together, win or lose. A week earlier we put in a really good performance against Leicester, in a really difficult atmosphere, in adversity. We want to get back to what we felt on that day. Like I said, I know we’ll get a big reaction from our lads. Our team tonight includes three of our World Cup five and we are all buzzing to have them back. George has so much quality and while Rob has been fantastic, he needs help and support. The way they combined last year at 10 and 13 was so seamless and I can’t wait to see them together again. Agustin Creevy starts for the first time tonight and I know you’ll give him a massive welcome. Gus has
a young family in Reading and after a tough World Cup, he could have had a week or two off. But he didn’t want to, and that says plenty about him as a man. The hookers last week – Nathan Langdon and Harry Thompson did great – but Gus Creevy, and Luke Cowan-Dickie when he’s back, will give us so much in our set-piece in terms of quality and experience. Bevan is also back and I’m so excited to see him go this season. He’s a Rolls Royce of a loosehead prop who can do it all. He can scrum and he gets about the field and attacks breakdowns like a back-rower. His quality is yet to be fully recognised. It’s been great to have the three of them back this week and we’ll be getting Manu and Tom Curry back very soon. Reintegrating international players isn’t easy because your first thought might be to play them all – and some clubs have far more than us. But you have to think about how you keep the cohesion that you’ve built while they were away. It’s a tricky balance but I know one thing: it’s going to increase the quality and the intensity of this league. The last word from me is on our skipper. Ben Curry is back tonight and I know you, like me, will be so happy to see him on the field again after a really difficult six months. Ben is world class on and off the pitch and I know he’s been chomping at the bit to get back on the pitch. The Curry boys are built a bit differently to you or I and we’ve had to hold him back a little while we manage his loading. But now he’s ready to go and I have no doubt he’ll want to make an impact. Enjoy the game, Al
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ROEBUCK: REEDY STILL OWES ME A NANDO’S! “Do you mean all three games or just the first two?” Sharks winger Tom Roebuck’s was asked to assess his own start to the season and that of his team and it was an easy distinction to make between the flying two from two start, and last week’s ‘painful’ defeat at Sandy Park. So how does he explain the 43-0 loss at the hands of Rob Baxter’s men? “It was a massive disappointment,” he says. “We went down there with loads of confidence after winning our first two games but what happened after that was really painful. To score no points at all was embarrassing. We can’t put it down to just one thing because we were miles off it all over the pitch. “The training week wasn’t the best and we weren’t sure who was going to be fit to play but that’s no excuse. We know we have to be better than that and we’re all ready to put it right this Friday. “The leaders in the group have been massive this week. Those guys know exactly what to say to pick us up because they’ve been there and experienced things like this before.
THE LEADERS IN THE GROUP HAVE BEEN MASSIVE THIS WEEK. GUYS LIKE GEORGE FORD KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY TO PICK US UP.
“George Ford coming back in has been brilliant. But there is an 9
emphasis on everyone to step up.” Roebuck had started the season well on a personal level too, with two tries in his first two games vindicating his own decision to make himself his fantasy league captain! But he’s got hot competition if he wants to be crowned the club’s top try scorer come the end of the season. “I was really happy with two in two to start the season,” he said. “Scoring tries is the fun part of being a winger! “All the back three lads have a competition every year to see who can score the most tries. Last season it was me and Reedy (Arron Reed) still owes me a Nando’s. It’s a bit of a laugh but it does mean there’s really good competition between us all. Obviously we’re not going to be selfish and not pass just to try and score ourselves, but we all push each other to be better in training and in matches. “It’s a really competitive area of the pitch, with Reedy, Flats (Tom O’Flaherty) and Carps (Joe Carpenter). Then we’ve got younger lads like Alex Wills, who’s on the bench this weekend. We all know we’ve got to put in performances every week to stay in the team.” Roebuck had a taste of an international environment last season when he was called up to an England camp. So is more international recognition on his agenda this season?
“I just want to play my best rugby for Sale,” he added. “Of course, I would love to play international rugby but I know that will only happen if I’m scoring tries for Sale and putting in performances every week.”
ALL THE BACK THREE LADS HAVE A COMPETITION EVERY YEAR TO SEE WHO CAN SCORE THE MOST TRIES. IT’S A BIT OF A LAUGH BUT IT DOES MEAN THERE’S REALLY GOOD COMPETITION BETWEEN US ALL. WE’RE NOT GOING TO BE SELFISH BUT WE ALL PUSH EACH OTHER TO BE BETTER IN TRAINING AND DURING MATCHES.
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CAPTAIN (C)URRY WELCOME to the Salford Stadium for a game that all the players are
really excited about. We’ve had some massive battles against Gloucester in the past few years and we know tonight will be no different. For me, the game is extra special because I’m making my comeback after almost six months out. It feels like the injury happened a lifetime ago. After spending six weeks on crutches, followed by months of rehab, I cant wait to get back onto the pitch with the lads. I’m lucky to have a lot of really good people around me and they helped me a lot in the tough moments when pulling on a Sale shirt seemed like it was miles away.
THIS IS AN EMOTIONAL AND PROUD GROUP AND LOSSES Rob and the lads have done a brilliant job so far this season and I’m looking LIKE LAST WEEK forward to contributing with the DO HURT. BUT return of Fordy and Bevan. They are both big players for us, not just in terms of their own quality, but also in AFTER A RESULT how they lift and drive those around them. LIKE THAT, THIS Before last week’s defeat to Exeter GROUP WILL we were unbeaten and I think that two from three is a pretty good start DEFINITELY to the season. Obviously last week was really disappointing because the DELIVER A BIG gameplan was there but as players we didn’t execute. At its heart, rugby PERFORMANCE. is a physical sport and as players we acknowledged that they beat us
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there. You have to get that right in rugby and if you don’t, it makes the rest of the game tough. Cobus spoke really well this week about how much it’s on us. It may sound obvious and cliche but it’s about turning up on game day and doing what we said we were going to do. Theres been plenty of honest conversations and there’s a lot of energy and excitement about having the chance to put it right tonight. This group is an emotional and proud group and losses like last week do hurt. This group will definitely deliver after a result like that. What am I expecting from my first game back? For me it’s about getting my head down and leading by example with my energy, especially coming off the bench. It’s a tough game to come back to but every game in this league is tough and I’ll definitely need the two days off afterwards! We’ve got a new face too in Agustin Creevy. He’s not been with us long but he definitely fits that energy driver title. He’s so experienced and we’re all looking forward to seeing him in a Sale shirt. Having played against him a number of times now, I’m looking forward to him being on our side. I want to end by talking about the World Cup. England went in with really low external expectations but finishing third is definitely something that team can build on and I think they surpassed most people’s expectations. Individually,
every single one of the Sale players had an impact on the tournament and we’re all super proud of them. My brother Tom reached 50 caps against Argentina and while it’s been well publicised that the last week or two haven’t been easy for him especially, hitting that milestone is something that, as a family, we’re all really proud of. He’s having a well-earned break after a tough few weeks but I’m sure you’ll see him soon. Ben
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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS are back in the North West! With the Rugby World Cup done and dusted, attention turns fully back to the Premiership this weekend looking to back up a fantastic tournament in France with all the drama, excitement and quality that we know this league can produce. From Sale’s perspective the season started well, with back to back victories over last season’s two semi-finalists Northampton and Leicester. If we were being greedy we wouldn’t have minded some try bonus points in those games, especially given the flowing attack we saw, but in both we showed outstanding resolve in defence on the last play of the game to secure the wins. This team have developed a superb mentality in those high pressure moments, in both games soaking up pressure and crucially keeping their discipline to wear the opposition down and ensure the game was won. It should serve us very well going into the tighter end of the season
and ensuring wins in those sorts of games in a smaller league is crucial for making the playoffs in May. There were some big performances across those first two games, not least the general Rob Du Preez who took home player of the match on both occasions including a gamewinning and spectacular try away at Leicester. Ernst van Rhyn has
settled in as well on the field as he seems to have done off it – his engine is incredible, looking like he could just hit tackles and carry into defences all day long, and no doubt he’ll quickly become a fan favourite. One particular pitch-length chase against Northampton has already won him a lot of admiration amongst the faithful and no doubt there’ll be more additions to the highlight reel tonight.
a very tough few weeks. We can’t wait to have Tom back at the Salford Stadium and with the support and adoration of the Sharks Family, and as we said on the socials, we are immensely proud that he is one of our own.
Of course we can’t not talk about the Exeter game, as much as we’d like to avoid it. An absolute pasting is about as generous as we can be with our review – it’s only the recent rarity of results like that which have kept our spirits high enough ahead of tonight’s game. We’re sure there will have been a lot of reflection on that this week and expect a big response from a squad who have shown the ability to bounce back from disappointments many times in the last few seasons. It’s no mean feat against a Gloucester side who have started the season strongly, especially buoyed by Zach Mercer returning to the Premiership and tearing it up, but we have every faith in the team backed by us in the crowd.
Alex, James and Lewis
If Tom’s here tonight then hopefully he’ll hear just how loud that support is going to be, and with a win to boot. Come on Sale!
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