Sale Sharks start the 2023–24 Premiership season this Sunday at home to the Northampton Saints – and this year they’re looking to go one better than last season and win the title.
Last season, Sale Sharks impressively qualified for the Premiership decider at Twickenham, but Saracens defeated them 35-25.
Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson insists that while the efforts of last term should be praised, the club needs to take the next steps to push for the title this campaign.
He said: “I think the positivity around last year was justified.
“As directors of rugby, we probably couldn’t work any harder, but once you look back and realise all the sacrifices you’ve made being a moody husband and bad dad, you have to say, ‘Well, was it worth it?’ I think it was, so it was time well spent.
“We saw some growth and I think there was an awakening for some of the younger lads that they’ve got the minerals.”
The jump from finishing sixth the season before to securing the runners-up spot last season demonstrates the vast improvement under Sanderson.
However, the Sharks realise there is still a lot of work to be done to close the gap to Sarries and bring an end to the 17-year league title drought.
The 44-year-old believes that the club must take examples from the world’s elite clubs.
He added: “We’ve looked at some global stats that became available to us, compared some of our metrics to Toulouse, La Rochelle, Leinster and Saracens. We looked at the areas that they were better than us at, and also what areas we were dominant at ourselves.
“One of the major differences between ourselves and the other successful teams globally like Crusaders, Leinster and La Rochelle is their efficiency and ability to take opportunities in attack.
“We feel like we can go toe-to-toe with any team at the set piece and we have to prove that again this year. By taking those chances and maximising them is somewhere we’re looking to grow.”
Sale will be able to see how they stack up to these sides when they face La Rochelle and Leinster in the Champions Cup later in the season, with Sanderson relishing the opportunity.
Sanderson said: “Really looking forward to those games, the enormity of them.
“We could put our noses about there, if we get our sh*t together.
“I’d hope to think we can go as strong as we possibly can in those games, but we will have to see – we know we haven’t got as much strength in depth as those teams.”
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints kicks off on Sunday, October 15th, at 13:30 UK Time.
There is live coverage of the game commencing at 13:00 on TNT Sports.
Feature image: Sale Sharks’ A J Bell Stadium for SJ7597 © Copyright Bill Boaden and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
