Sale Sharks v Bedford Blues | Matchday Programme

SALE SHARKS V BEDFORD BLUES

Saturday 9th September, KO: 17:30

A WORD FROM THE AXE

WELCOME BACK TO THE SALFORD STADIUM AT THE START OF ANOTHER EXCITING SEASON. I’M ABSOLUTELY BUZZING TO BE BACK AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THE LADS PUT INTO PRACTICE ALL THE STUFF WE’VE BEEN WORKING SO HARD ON

It’s been a really tough pre-season and the lads have worked so hard to make sure we’re in the best shape possible to have another crack at bringing home some silverware.

Our visitors today are new to us and I’m sure they’re new to you too. But on behalf of everyone here at Sale Sharks, can I welcome the players and staff from Bedford Blues to Manchester. It’s brilliant to have Championship clubs in the Premiership Rugby Cup and I actually think that the way the schedule has been worked out is a real positive. I think you’ll see better sides picked for the competition and clubs will use it to get their bigger name players up to speed. We still want to give our young talent a chance to get some game time but it will be different.

I was asked this week what I had learned from last season. The answer is that there is loads of stuff. We want to be better at making better decisions in the big moments and we want to understand how

to attack more effectively without wearing the big lads out.

We all want to learn from what happened in the final last year. We’ve looked at the game and we know we need to be better. You have to improve by ten per cent just to stand still – we don’t want to stand still so we know we have to improve by more than that ten per cent. How do you do that? By making marginal gains across the board. If everyone improves the way they train, the

IF YOU DON’T GROW AND LEARN FROM FAILURE THEN YOU’RE IN THE WRONG SPORT.

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way they prepare, just 0.5 per cent then we’re on the right track.

If you don’t grow and learn from failure then you’re in the wrong sport and we’re determined to make this season another campaign to remember.

Part of improvement is recruitment and this pre-season we’ve welcomed four of our five new lads into Carrington.

Ernst van Rhyn is big, strong and very, very good. You can tell he’s a proper leader and he’s very quickly gained the respect of the rest of the lads. Luke Cowan-Dickie is a fantastic player and we can’t wait to get him on the field. Telusa Veainu has quick feet like you wouldn’t believe. He’s been brilliant for Leicester and if we can get him back to his best then we’ve got some player. And Sam Bedlow has fitted in like a glove – he’s going to be a brilliant signing for us.

Obviously we’ve still got Agustin Creevy to come in too and then I really do feel that our squad is even stronger than it was last year.

Off the field there’s loads of work going on to improve the matchday experience for you and I hope we’ll be able to tell you more about that soon. Our semi-final last season against Leicester was something else and we want to recreate that experience for us all every week. The atmosphere was buzzing but we know that so much of that comes down to our performances on the pitch.

That all starts today.

Enjoy the competition, Al

TELUSA VYING FOR A START

THE FOCUS IN THE PREMIERSHIP RUGBY CUP HAS ALWAYS BEEN ON GIVING OPPORTUNITIES TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF SHARKS. BUT THE COMPETITION ALSO PRESENTS A CHANCE FOR ESTABLISHED FIRST TEAM PLAYERS TO GET VALUABLE MINUTES. AND THIS YEAR IS NO DIFFERENT.

Former Tiger Telusa Veainu joined Sharks from Stade Francais this summer and after a gruelling pre-season, he’s set to make his first appearance for the club against Championship side Bedford Blues in the season opener.

So what’s he made of his first few weeks as a Shark? And how much of an influence was best mate Manu Tuilagi on his decision to come to Manchester?

“Pre-season has been tough but everyone has been so welcoming so far and I’m really enjoying it,” he said. “It’s a young group and the boys have so much energy but everyone is striving to be better every day.

“I’ve been so impressed with what I’ve seen so far.

“Manu was a big part of my decision. I spoke to him before I made the decision and he spoke highly of the club, how everyone is off the field and how the players are treated. He said it was a family club and a place where the coaches think holistically.

I PLAYED MY BEST RUGBY IN ENGLAND BUT I KNOW BREAKING INTO THIS TEAM WILL BE DIFFICULT.

“He’s happy and to see him in great form and in good nick physically is brilliant. You can see how happy he is in his performances and that told me a lot about the environment. That’s so important for me and my family.

“I’d done my time in France and I wanted to experience something different. I feel like I have unfinished business in the Premiership so I wanted to get back into it.“

“I played my best rugby in England but I know breaking into this team will be difficult. The back three that played so well last year are all unbelievable. Carps, Roebuck, Reedy and Flats are young, and so good.

“But I just want to do my best and try and make an impact.

“Because Manu was playing a lot I managed to watch a lot of Sale games last season. They’ve gone from being a team in the middle of the league to serious contenders. We’ve got a really competitive team.

“My goal is just to put my best foot forward, be happy and be at peace. And getting my body into the best shape possible.

“I know it’ll be tough but I just want to win. Whether I’m playing or not, I want to win.”

Telusa played alongside Manu and George Ford at Leicester and he says he can’t wait to get back on the field with his old mates.

“We’re putting the band back together,” he added. “I am really looking forward to playing with them both. I learned so much from Fordy at Leicester. The way he looks at the game and way he prepares are world class.

“I’d far rather be on their team than play against them.

“But it’s not just Manu and Fordy. I can’t wait to play with all of these young lads. They’ve got so much potential and it’s up to me and the other senior guys to help guide them and give the whole team a bit of direction.”

FIVE

SHARKS TO WATCH TUMY ONASANYA

AS SHARKS’ ACADEMY TRANSITION COACH, IT’S GARETH HARRIS’S JOB

TO ENSURE A SMOOTH PATH FOR THE

A key part of that is the Premiership Rugby Cup, where first team regulars like Raffi Quirke, Sam James and Tom Roebuck cut their teeth and got the chance to show what they could do. Ahead of this year’s competition, Gareth ran the rule over five of the club’s brightest prospects.

Tumy is a really talented lad. He’s come on massively in the last couple of years and actually, we’ve all been so impressed with how he’s come back this pre-season.

Alex and I had a good chat with him at the back end of last season about how we wanted him to approach pre-season and I think we saw him

the most out of all the lads in the off-season. He seemed to be in the gym four or five days a week.

That’s paid dividends and he’s getting his chance in the PRC to show everyone what he can do. His scrummaging has come on loads and he’s had lots of experience at National 1 level with Sale FC. That’s really stood him good stead and now this next five weeks is a big opportunity for him.

Tumy was late into the game so he’s having to learn a new position and at times, a new sport. As a loosehead prop, that learning takes a bit more time. You learn the dark arts of the scrum through playing..

CLUB’S BRIGHTEST YOUNG STARS FROM FERGUS MULCHRONE’S ACADEMY TO ALEX SANDERSON’S FIRST TEAM.

Ben’s background is all rugby league until the age of 18 or 19. He was at Huddersfield and then was picked up by Bristol Bears. At the start of last pre-season he’d only played a handful of union games.

Ben’s a really talented rugby player – probably one of our most skillful forwards – and since he’s come in, his workrate and application has been fantastic. He’s getting the most out of himself.

BEN BAMBER

As someone who has grown up playing rugby league, the gap to bridge for Ben is probably around some of the set piece elements because that comes down to experience and knowledge. He needed to develop his physicality too and this year he’s definitely added a bit of bulk in the right areas.

Ben knows he’s in a great place to learn because in the areas where maybe he needs to develop – the set piece and physicality - we’ve got some of the best players in the world.

TRISTAN WOODMAN

Tristan has come through the DPP and really kicked on in the last year or two. He was on loan at Fylde last year and by the second half of the season he was really standing out and going well.

He’s played a lot of England U20s too and performed really well and that’s really helped his development.

Tristan’s a confident young man who works really hard and wants to do well. His super strength is his ability at the breakdown and his speed over the ball. We saw a bit of that when he got his chance in the Premiership Rugby Cup last year and I’m looking forward to seeing him go again this year.

As a young openside he’s got some of the very best around at this club, and he’s not afraid to ask for help. That’s a challenge for him too, but if he keeps working and keeps developing, he can challenge those lads. Time will tell. Sam Dugdale would be a really good example for Tristan as someone who has had knocks and has had to bide his time, but then when he gets his chance he performs.

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Nye got a chance really early on after signing his first senior academy contract. He wasn’t long out of school but we had a few injuries and he got a chance to come off the bench in a Premiership game. It probably came earlier than we or he thought it would but he did really well.

It’s been a bit more difficult for him to get consistent game time. He’s been involved a lot with England U20s and he’s been on the bench for us a few times and that probably affected how much he played on loan at Caldy. Last season he did get some more consistent game time at Championship level and he really benefited from that.

This year is a big opportunity for Nye. Cliffy has retired and we’re not recruiting anyone else so he’ll get chances. It’s just down to him to take them.

ALEX WILLS

Alex joined us from Worcester last season. We had been aware of him for a while since we took an U18 team down there and he was the best player on the pitch. He was exceptional in the air. When Worcester went into administration, we knew about him and felt it was a position we felt we needed to strengthen so we brought him in.

By his own admission, as an 18-yearold he took a bit of time to adjust to living in a new city, away from his family. This summer he was away with England U20s, he performed really well, and we’ve been really

NYE THOMAS

Nye’s super strength is his speed and his ability to spot a gap. The big challenge for him is to do the basics consistently well. It’s always a balance with young players. Nye’s running game is exceptional and it’s what makes him the player he is. Now he has to add the other elements to his game. We’re all excited to see him go.

impressed since he’s returned. He’s really growing and developing. His ability to win the ball back in the air is fantastic and that’s obviously integral to the way we play. He’s a big, physical lad and his skills really fit our model.

If he performs well in these games then the chance is there to progress. The way he’s come back this pre-season I’m really excited to see how he goes in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

CHAMPIONSHIP

OUR OPPONENTS

TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW...

Bedford Rugby Club, which would later become Bedford Blues, was founded in 1886 following the merger of Bedford Rovers (1876) and Bedford Swifts (1882).

The club’s first match was played on 9th October, 1886, against Olney at Goldington Road and won by Bedford 10-3.

A total of 41 players have won full international caps whilst contracted to Bedford with 27 playing for England. Three have captained England – David Perry (1965), Budge Rogers (1966) and John Orwin (1989).

Bedford took on New Zealand on 15th November ,1905, at Goldinton Road. The mighty All Blacks won 41-0 in front of a record attendance of 6,000.

Bedford have won three major honours, including the 1997/98 Allied Dunbar Premiership 2 and the 2004/05 Powergen Challenge Shield.

In 2020 Bedford and Premiership side Northampton

ROUND 1

Saturday 9 September

KO: 5:30pm, Salford Stadium

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Saints announced a strategic partnership, allowing the clubs to share players and coaches.

The Blues boast plenty of players with Premiership experience including former Newcastle centre Joel Matavesi and ex-Saints prop Oisin Heffernan.

Last season Bedford finished in fourth place in the Championship.

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Bedford Blues Women were formed in June 2020 as part of the club’s development plan with Bedford Junior Blues to have a pathway through from age-grade to Women’s adult rugby.

Bedford have plenty of experience in the coaches’ box. Director of Rugby Mike Rayer played 367 times for Cardiff, gained 21 international Caps for Wales and also played four times for the Barbarians.

The latest member of the Grayson rugby production line (dad Paul played for England while brother James plays for Northampton), Ethan has been part of the Northampton set-up since he was 13 and says he’s the more physical player in the family.

Centre Ethan has represented England at U20s level and joined Bedford Blues on a short-term deal from Saints ahead of the 2023/24 season.

KEY MEN TO WATCH... ETHAN GRAYSON JORDAN VENTER

OISIN HEFFERNAN

Prop Oisin Heffernan signed a permanent deal with Bedford Blues ahead of the 2023/24 Championship season.

The 28-year-old tighthead has been a familiar face at Goldington Road across the past few years on dual registration from Northampton Saints, making ten appearances and adding two tries.

The Galway-born forward began his rugby journey with Irish province, Leinster and made his debut for the side in November 2016

South African-born centre Jordan Venter joined Bedford from Bath Rugby having found his final season in the West Country hampered by injury problems.

The powerful centre was named vice-captain of South Africa’s U18 Sevens team which went on to win the Capricorn Gold Cup in Namibia in early 2020, before becoming the first foreign schoolboy to sign a contract with Scottish Rugby and making the move to Edinburgh.

ROUND 4

Saturday 30 September

KO: 7:45pm, Paton Field

The club was orginally formed in 1924 as the Old Caldeians Rugby Club for past pupils of Calday Grange School. The first pitch was on a field at Caldy Crossroads and the players changed in the Barn across the road at Croxtons Farm.

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A close working relationship with Caldy means that plenty of familiar Sharks names have been ‘Ravers’ in recent year. Rouban Birch, Elliott Gourlay and Nye Thomas were key figures in their promotion to the Championship.

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In 1928 Sir Alfred Paton, a benefactor of the school, gifted Thurstaston Hill to the National Trust, with the proviso that the Rugby Club would have a pitch in perpetuity and the rest of the 20 acres to be used for the benefit of the youth of the area.

In 1968 the Club went open and became Caldy Rugby Club. The club was an original member of the Giro bank North West league which was the forerunner of National Leagues. It had mixed success and in 1996 it was relegated into level 9 in the League pyramid.

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Since 1996 the club have won five league titles and were runners up twice before being promoted into National 2 West in 2007.

They won promotion to National 1 in 2017 and then in 2022, moved up another step on the ladder to the Championship.

Caldy’s nickname is ‘The Ravers’.

Caldy head coach Matt Cairns might be a familiar name to Sharks fans. The former England hooker played for Sale for one season in 2003/04 before leaving to return to Saracens.

Caldy’s game against Sale will be played at their Paton Field ground. The stadium holds around 4,000 people. The original pavilion was built in 1928 and is still the wooden core of the current building today.

In September 2022 a group of Danish football fans descended on Paton Field after the Liverpool game they were due to attend was postponed following the Queen’s death. They loved the game so much that they set up a Copenhagen branch of the Caldy Supporters Club.

KEY MEN TO WATCH... SAM DICKINSON

Veteran forward Sam Dickinson started his career at Caldy, before moving on to Rotherham and then Northampton Saints, where he played almost 100 games, including starting in the 2014 Premiership final win against Saracens.

Equally happy in the back row or second row and born in Manchester, Sam was called up to the England Saxons squad in October 2013 and the following year, was called into the Saxons Elite Player Squad. He had his first start against Scotland A in a 16-16 draw.

NICK ROYLE

Winger Nick Royle made history in 2008 when he made his Sale Sharks debut, becoming the first player to be loaned to a Premiership side from a National 1 club. Nick was plying his trade at Fylde at the time but his impressive form led to him getting a chance in the EDF Energy Cup against Cardiff Blues.

Nick is a prolific sevens player, receiving his first England call-up in 2009. He also played for England Counties XV and Lancashire, and after a spell at Vale of Lune, he joined Caldy ahead of the 2014/15 season.

In 2016/17 Nick scored 32 tries as Caldy were promoted to National 1.

ROUND 5

Friday 6 October

KO: 7:45pm, Salford Stadium

Rugby in Ampthill can be traced back as far as 1881. Reformed after WWII in 1950 the current club, Ampthill & District Community Rugby Union Football Club Ltd, was incorporated in 1959 as a company limited by guarantee.

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In the 1950s, the club almost went out of existence because of a lack of players, but now they have six senior sides.

Ampthill’s nickname is ‘The Mob’.

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The club bought the first three acres of its current home in 1958 from local farmer A J Woodward for the sum of £300.

When it comes to developing young players, Ampthill has blazed a trail among English rugby clubs. The club’s mini & youth section was started in 1971, sometime before the concept was adopted by the RFU, by the current President David Williams who was asked by the local cub scout master if he could organise rugby training so that the pack members could obtain their ‘Sports’ badge.

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The club introduced more than 450 US servicemen to rugby during the 1970s & 80s. Mostly stationed at RAF Chicksands, some would arrive by air transport on a Thursday and play their first game on the Saturday! Eventually there were enough players to form an ‘extra’ team, a name that lives on in the current 3rd XV.

England hooker Theo Dan broke into the Saracens set-up last season, but he started the campaign at Ampthill.

Other notable former players include Northampton stars flyhalf Fin Smith, England flanker Ben Earl, former Sharks prop James Flynn and Wales World Cup squad member Sam Costelow.

Director of Rugby Mark Lavery’s love affair with the club goes back 20 years. He started coaching in the Mini & Youth and under his direction the 1stXV has achieved four promotions in 11 seasons, now plays at the highest level in Ampthill’s history and has won three East Midland Senior Cups.

The club has around 200 adult and more than 400 mini & youth registered players and Premiership stalwarts Josh Bassett and Lewis Ludlow both picked up a rugby ball for the first time as an Ampthill junior.

KEY MEN TO WATCH...

MORGAN STRONG

Former Ospreys No 8 Morgan Strong was named as Ampthill captain for the 2023/24 season. The former Wales U19 international spent some time in the centre in his younger days before establishing himself in the back row with Tondu RFC and Bridgend College.

A powerful carrier who displays maturity beyond his years regarding game understanding, Strong made 29 tackles in his first game for Wales U20 against Italy in the opening round of the 2020 Six Nations, to sit alongside Ireland’s James Ryan who achieved the same number against Scotland in 2016, as the leading tackler from any game in the Championship.

Strong was Ampthill’s top try-scorer last season and his consistent performances earnt him a place in the Championship Team of the Season.

PAUL TURNER

Sale Sharks fans might remember Ampthill Head Coach Paul Turner from a spell coaching at the club in the 90s.

His playing career included spells at Newbridge, Newport, Pontypool, Bedford and Sale, where he dazzled with his skills and tactical genius, accumulating hundreds of points along the way, kicking goals with both feet for good measure.

He won three caps for Wales, all of them in 1989, including the 12-9 victory over England at a rain-soaked national stadium which denied the old enemy the Five Nations title.

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FROM THE SHARK TANK

OUR WEEKLY GUEST SPOT FROM THE PODCASTING SUPERFANS OVER AT THE SHARK

The rugby’s back! It seems a distant memory that we were all down at Twickers for a historic day out for the club in May last year, and it’s been a long 3 months since trying to recreate the feeling of that day out and the home semi-final against Leicester.

We’ve tried the Ashes, the Women’s World Cup and the Rugby World Cup warm-ups but none have quite hit the spot (some Twickenham based games have actively made us turn off the telly), so it’s fantastic to be back into the real action with an intriguing Prem Rugby Cup campaign as the curtain raiser for another huge season.

We were very lucky to have three great guests on the pod ahead of the season restart and the Prem Rugby Cup – Connor Doherty, Tristan Woodman and Ferg Mulchrone all joined us to chat all things Prem Rugby Cup and Sharks Academy. They were able to give us some superb insight into the academy setup and life as a young Shark, as well as a preview of the competition and their player to watch out for. So if you’ve listened make sure to keep an eye on that player today, and if you haven’t, get listening! And of course

a massive thank you from us to the lads for joining us.

The competition format has freshened up this year with the welcome addition of Championship clubs into the pool stages. Sale start off with Bedford Blues at home, and are also welcoming Ampthill to the Salford Stadium after a huge (and hopefully pretty spicy) away trip to Caldy. We know these clubs will be really up for the

TANK, THE NORTHERN POWERHOUSE OF RUGBY PODCASTING, WITH A DETAILED, IRREVERENT AND OCCASSIONALLY CYNICAL LOOK AT ALL THINGS SALE SHARKS.

chance to prove they can go toeto-toe with Premiership clubs and hopefully that should make for some fantastic games.

This competition is also a great chance to see some of the most exciting young Sharks players coming through and often push their way into the first team for the remainder of the season. With a few names at the World Cup opening up key positions for competition, it’s a welcome opportunity for us as fans to see players in those positions like Tom Curtis at 10 for significant gametime at a high standard. We also have five academy players who went to the U20 World Cup in South Africa this summer who impressed, so keep your eye on Tristan Woodman, Asher OpokuFordjour, Alex Wills, Nye Thomas and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White as they come off some impressive performances in that competition and look to bring that into a Sharks shirt in this competition.

Off the field we’re also looking forward to a first full season at the Salford Stadium with a bit more control, and the home semi-final against Leicester showed what a great atmosphere we can create here. After the fantastic noise at Twickenham we think a few more people are starting to wake up to how good a fanbase we have up here in the North West, so we’ll need to keep proving to everyone that’s the case and that starts here.

optimism feeling like this is a club on the up and ready to continue achieving big things. Whether you’ve been following the club since Heywood Road, Edgeley Park, last season or even if this is your first game – it’s a fantastic time to be a Sharks fan so make sure you get behind the team and the club. And most importantly, enjoy the game, enjoy the competition and here’s to another great season for Sale Sharks and North West Rugby!

Alex, James and Lewis

As a pod, and as fans, we go into this season full of

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