ALEX SANDERSON MEDIA SESSION 20/12/2022

REFLECTIONS ON SUNDAY’S DEFEAT TO TOULOUSE

“We set them loose. We set a team loose who are one of the best club rugby sides in the world with turnover ball and space. That’s what we gifted them. We didn’t convert or execute the opportunities we created. Those two things tend to blow the scoreline out which is what we saw.

“There are always things you can do differently planning-wise but there is not a lot that we would have done differently. We thought we got a lot of the elements in the week right. But like everyone we were hammered with the conditions. We hadn’t trained at the training ground in 10 days leading up to the match. Those things take their toll as do late changes to the squad but I’m about to start making excuses and I never have done. We were not good enough on the day; 26 turnovers and a 19% conversion rate in the opposition 22 which tells the story.

VIEWS ON REFEREEING DECISIONS

“It’s happened twice to us. Racing last season and Toulouse in this instance. I can’t say just off the back of two potentially isolated incidents if it is a concurrent theme or not. I would be speculating. I’m not going to get frustrated by speculation. I’ve got bigger things to worry about. Whatever the periphery gossip is, I have just got to focus on what I can do with these lads and what we can do on the field. We need to be better than we were last week and the players know that. There has got to be someone out there who is counting the number of incidents and is able to regulate things like camera angles. I can’t see how my opinion will have an impact on that either way.

“Let me clarify, it was a frustrating game. There wasn’t a person who wears Sale colours who weren’t frustrated by the game. The main part of our frustration comes from our own inability to execute our own gameplan. Truly that’s where our frustration comes from. We felt we were our own worst enemies on the day because we have won games with poor refereeing decisions in the past. On reflection, given our chance again, on our turf, we back ourselves in knowing what not to do. That’s what we learned from the weekend. I’m frustrated with the manner which we went about it. I’m still not going to put it back on the referees because you then become an excuse-making organisation where it’s never fault and clearly it was our fault. So I am going to accept the responsibility for the underperformance and politely push away the suggestion that on a different day with a different referee we would have won. I don’t think we would.

INJURY UPDATE

Simon McIntyre in HIA protocol, unlikely to be available for trip to Newcastle on Friday

Both du Preez twins fine

Joe Carpenter- Grade 1/2 hamstring, tendon injury, didn’t want to risk it becoming like Raffi Quirke’s injury last season, taking extra care with him, won’t be considered for selection for the Newcastle game

WHERE IS COENIE OOSTHUIZEN?- Injured, 12 week recovery period after surgery on an AC joint injury, 2 or 3 weeks away from being fit

SQUAD ROTATION ON A SHORT WEEK

“Not overthinking it. You can try and be too clever with rotation because it’s not just this week. You have to have some consideration for the games coming up against Leicester, Harlequins, Toulouse, Ulster and Bath over the next month or so. But first and foremost the focus is to win against Newcastle. 4 points away at Newcastle counts the same in the league as 4 points at home against Leicester. So we are going out with the best and freshest team we can with loading, game minutes over the last 3 or 4 weeks and their wellness taken into consideration. It’s very much holistic, gathering information across the medical, S&C and rugby departments to pick the best, fit team for this weekend.

STADIUM UPDATE

Stadium has been bought by the council, club re-negotiating deal with the council

Hopefully with the new deal club will have much more control over matchday activities

It’s not ideal or what the club wanted but it’s heading in the right direction

SIGNING OF YOUNGSTER ALEX WILLS

“He’s with the England Under 20’s right now so he’s the best out there in a position where we don’t have a massive amount of talent coming through. That could change in a year or two but right now he strengthens our depth with him being the brightest young talent on the wing at Under 20’s level. So he is a brilliant feather to our cap.

“It’s really exciting. It shows the healthy state that the club is in right now but also it’s a massive statement of our intent as to our desire to grow and build from within and for it to be a mainly northern club. Northern by birth or northern by adoption. People who are going to remain in the north and play for this club as opposed to playing for a pay-cheque. That’s the type of club that we are looking to build. There is Asher (Opoku-Fordjour) who is also in the Under 20’s, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Nye Thomas as well. We had a good lot go down the other week, some who we have brought in and others we have brought through ourselves.”

Christmas Dinner today, good sing-along

WILL CLUBS LOOK TO BRING IN MORE YOUNG PLAYERS DUE TO LOWER CAP?

“That definitely could be a motivation for other clubs. I think it’s fair to say going back 20 months and the opportunities that I was able to give Arron Reed, Sam Dugdale, Tom Roebuck, Raffi Quirke, Bevan Rodd, Joe Carpenter more recently. It’s always been within my motivation to bring young players through who have been part of your organisation for a while because you get a different type of personality and an intrinsically motivated person as opposed to someone who is a bit more of a mercenary. I guess the reduction in the cap has increased all organisations’ added motivations in the last year or so to drive this investment in youngsters rather than go for the international jet-setters. I can’t speak for other clubs’ motivations but it has always been mine to bring young players through.

SALE’S STANCE ON LEVEL OF SALARY CAP

“My understanding within the league is that 4 or 5 clubs want the level of the cap to increase now and there are 5 or 6 clubs who want it to remain the same or even decrease. The question of where we stand will all depend on continued investment and our ability to raise revenue streams that can supplement the organisation and the players going forward. The more we earn and the more people invest the greater the ability for us to increase the salary cap. With their being a financial recession the philanthropists who own the clubs are definitely feeling it. I would say country wide there is a tightening of the belts and purse strings. Within that the owners are part of it so our opinion is that at the moment the cap should stay where it is until we can gain more resources for us to kick on again. I have been given assurances that we will spend up to the cap whatever that cap is to be as competitive as we are right now but clearly we have got to improve our ability to earn more money for the organisation so that we can grow as the game grows.

DOES THE LOWER CAP LEVEL MAKE IT MORE CHALLENGING IN EUROPE?

“Of course it will make it more difficult but not impossible. French clubs have always had bigger salary caps. It’s just you forget that because they have dominated over the last couple of years. The wider the gap the more difficult it is because of the strength in depth which I think some of the games at the weekend showed. It’s the same question that we got asked last year, it’s not a new question. We know that clubs in France get benefits from the government with regards the grounds. It’s possible something that we can renegotiate after the World Cup with the PGA, PRL and RFU as to what their contribution to the domestic game looks like going forward.

INSIGHT INTO PLAYER RECRUITMENT

“Very complicated and it’s quite fluid. We have a succession plan that goes 3 deep and about 3-4 years long so we can see who we have in each area for how long. Then you are able to pick out the spots where you need to strengthen your squad. Within that certain notes about robustness etc. are attached to them so you have to be aware of your strength in depth in each area. So we have got that as a blueprint.

In identifying a positional area that we need, whether it be for next year or for injury dispensation we have a word with Hugh Jenner (Head of Performance Analysis) who has contact with all the agents out there and a database of players as well. We sift through them, almost on a statistical and moneyball-type basis with a top 5 or 6. Obviously that has to fit into a price bracket because we are managing it for the cap. That’s where Paul Smith, our accountant, who has been here forever comes in. He looks at the salary cap and makes sure that we don’t breach it. We will have a rough price and a positional area for him and within that we also have attributes that we think will suit our style of play. So it’s not just about getting the best player, it’s about getting the best fit for our game model. Generally like-for-like is best although some people have talent you can’t replicate.

Having done all that and sifted through dozens and dozens of players we get down to maybe a final 3 or 4. We get footage of them and Hugh will have watched them. We will get a decent amount of footage on the last 3 or 4 and then I will distribute that to the relevant coaches who have the most expertise. So if it is a back it will be Paul Deacon and Warren Spragg, and also to Mike Forshaw. We want to canvas their opinion. When we get down to the last 2 or 3 I meet them all. I talk to them over Zoom over 1 or 2 conversations. I won’t talk to them about rugby because we have done all that already. Crucially we want the right person not just the right player. And in some cases if they are from near here or a close family loop unit I will ring the parents and speak to them. In other cases we will get them in with their wives. If they are not from Manchester see if they can live here because that is important. It’s not just if it’s the right fit for us it’s got to be the right for them. It doesn’t work otherwise. If I am going to ask for everything of them they need to be totally committed to the area, the team and they feel they are getting their worth financially as well. It’s quite a long process that can be fast-tracked through 2 or 3 weeks. A couple of syndicate meetings which involve 4 or 5 people to make the decision because you’re generally talking over £100,000 if it’s a big signing, maybe £200-300,000. But even if it’s £20-30,000 for an academy player you’re talking about someone’s life. So we put great importance on it and that is why it is so detailed.

New signings in the pipeline, won’t be announced until after Christmas and New Year, spoke about ripple effect of new signings coming in meaning players will need to leave especially with the current level of the cap, wants to avoid damaging white noise in the dressing room.