{"id":201147,"date":"2025-10-09T19:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201147\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T19:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:38:07","slug":"i-dont-want-to-be-a-cheap-fraud-alex-sanderson-makes-promise-to-sale-fans-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/201147\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I don\u2019t want to be a cheap fraud\u2019: Alex Sanderson makes promise to Sale fans | Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow we\u2019ve failed in the last few years really, really irks me,\u201d says Alex Sanderson, Sale\u2019s director of rugby, with a note of calm determination. As a matter of fact, he leads the Prem\u2019s most consistent club of recent times: the only side to finish in the top four in the past three seasons. Narrowly denied by Leicester in last season\u2019s semi-final<\/a> and Bath the year before<\/a>, Owen Farrell and Saracens then had too much for them in the 2023 final at Twickenham<\/a>: could this, finally, be the Sharks\u2019 time?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just haven\u2019t failed at our best. We\u2019ve left it little bit too late in the season. I feel like we saw elements of our best in last season\u2019s run-in, but it\u2019s very difficult to maintain,\u201d Sanderson says of those recent near-misses before the visit of Newcastle Red Bulls on Friday night.<\/p>\n

This campaign began with a bonus-point victory over Gloucester<\/a> before succumbing to the champions<\/a> on a stormy night in Bath last week. For Sanderson, who prefers his players to be motivated internally rather than by external factors, what would success look like next June?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can measure it on outcome: that\u2019s about winning a final,\u201d he says. \u201cAnybody with aspirations of the top four would say the same. But that\u2019s just the byproduct of making good on my words to all the fans I speak to every year. The supporters\u2019 club meals I do \u2026 I\u2019ve believed it [a title win] and I haven\u2019t delivered on it. So I don\u2019t want to be some kind of cheap fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one could accuse Sanderson of that, but the strong words demonstrate his desire. \u201cI speak on behalf of the group,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s making good on the resources the owners have pumped in: I want to do that for them as well. These are bigger drivers than just winning a cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanderson is evidently capable of honest self-analysis, something he demands among his squad. What are the lessons he has learned in almost 20 years of coaching? \u201cYou have a plan and hope it\u2019s going to work out,\u201d he says. \u201cYou hope for the best. But generally you have to make do with what\u2019s good enough. Getting my head around that has been a big challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could work 24 hours a day to have complete control and prescribe an outcome I would do that. What I\u2019m learning is that I can\u2019t. I\u2019m willing to let things go.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Ford (left) has played a major role in Sale\u2019s success joining in 2021. Photograph: Michael Steele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Coaching, Sanderson says, is \u201ca brilliant tool for self-awareness. Young groups of men from 20 to 35. You\u2019ve got to keep pace with them. They\u2019re learning and growing so you\u2019ve got to do it as well. I enjoy that aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2021, the former Bath and Leicester fly-half George Ford has devoted his considerable talent to the Sharks. \u201cIf you could bottle George Ford you could sell it in Waitrose,\u201d Sanderson says, joking.<\/p>\n

If he could influence Ford\u2019s future, would it mean a coaching role in Greater Manchester? \u201cWe laugh about it,\u201d Sanderson says. \u201cI say he\u2019s going to have my job. He\u2019s like: \u2018I don\u2019t want your job.\u2019 Well, I say: \u2018You\u2019re having it, George.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat would be the dream wouldn\u2019t it? To keep him on for a few years, have a coaching role set up for him when he retires. To be half an hour from where his family is in the north where he\u2019s resettled. That would be a dream for the club, I\u2019m sure, and for him.\u201d Sanderson appointed the front-rower Ross Harrison as Sale\u2019s \u201ccaptain of energy\u201d a few years ago. Harrison retired last season having made more than 300 appearances and it is a tribute to the environment created by Sanderson that he remains involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe works part-time in the gym. We trialled it in pre-season. It was like: \u2018How\u2019s this going to go, Rosco? We want the best of you energy-wise.\u2019 We gave it a trial run. Honestly, after the first few days, the lads took to him so well. He\u2019s flying and we\u2019re negotiating a long-term part-time contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

The England flanker Tom Curry remains sidelined for the Newcastle match as he recovers from wrist surgery, while his twin, Ben, continues to manage a persistent hamstring injury, with uncertainty over if and when surgery may happen. After an enforced break post-British & Irish Lions tour, Luke Cowan-Dickie \u201cis up for selection,\u201d Sanderson says. \u201cYou can make your own conclusions about whether we\u2019ll pick a Lions hooker.\u201d Dan du Preez remains sidelined, but is back in training, while the Wales prop WillGriff John is suspended after being cited against Bath.<\/p>\n

Sale announced this week the long-serving back Rob du Preez, brother of Dan, will leave next summer to pursue an opportunity overseas. Yet more motivation, then, for Sanderson and his players to claim that elusive Prem crown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHow we\u2019ve failed in the last few years really, really irks me,\u201d says Alex Sanderson, Sale\u2019s director of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-201147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}