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Masotti has frequently suggested that Sale should consider rebranding and this week he posted on social media: \u201cI hope the Sale fans show up to see the real @SharksRugby. Good luck to the Sale Tuna.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll lean into that,\u201d Sanderson said. \u201cDo they respect us as an organisation? Questionable, certainly not from the top. I will have that in the back pocket, those lads who are on social media might want bragging rights. You\u2019ve got to find something every week that pushes the buttons. There\u2019s enough there for us this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanderson\u2019s side, who are seventh in the Gallagher Prem table, know that a bonus-point victory at home will be enough to ensure their progress to the knockout stage of the Champions Cup. Saturday\u2019s opponents have not often played their strongest line-up in away matches in this competition, losing 56-19 in their opening fixture this season in Toulouse, having travelled without the likes of Siya Kolisi, Andr\u00e9 Esterhuizen and Grant Williams, before beating Saracens at home a week later.<\/p>\n
But Sanderson said his team must be prepared to face the strongest available Sharks team, who have won only two of their first eight matches in the United Rugby Championship. \u201cWe\u2019re planning for the best, you have to,\u201d he said. \u201cThey haven\u2019t had a good run of results and they\u2019ll want to get some pride back in their jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sanderson says his team will \u201clean into\u201d the jibe and that it will \u201cpush their buttons\u201d<\/p>\n
DAVID ROGERS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Either way, the stage will be set for a battle of the Sharks in freezing temperatures this weekend. \u201cMichelle [Orange, Sale\u2019s co-owner] said, tongue in cheek, maybe we should rebrand as Manchester Megalodons,\u201d Sanderson said. \u201cFunnily enough, my mum\u2019s coming to watch on Saturday and she\u2019s not well. Three years ago she gave me a fossilised megalodon tooth, so I could remind myself, when she\u2019s not around to nag me, of the kind of shark I want to be. <\/p>\n
\u201cBe the biggest shark, be the angriest shark, be the most aggressive shark, day to day. I\u2019m probably going to talk about that to the lads. I want to show her that I can be this person, this coach that she wants me to be. There\u2019s always personal reasons for you to be motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n