ALEX SANDERSON MEDIA SESSION 24/1/24

REFLECTIONS ON LA ROCHELLE GAME

“We gave them too much and a foothold, bumper in the second half and easy points. All the stats go to show that we probably could and should have won that game. We won the gain line, territory, possession, even the momentum stats were high but they capitalised on some soft moments. I was gutted because I believed we could win that. That’s saying something with a few people out that we believed we could have taken them.

“We had 14-9 entries into the 22, five and a half minutes to one and a half minutes in the 22, we crossed the line more times than they did and got pushed into touch, knocked the ball on and held up five times. You have got to give credit to them; some of it is luck but a lot of it is effort and they pride themselves on their defence. I was really frustrated and gutted for the boys because I thought we did a lot right.

“They have the lowest ball in play time of any team in Europe; 31 minutes. We average 38 minutes so we are going to have play faster for longer. If we try and play faster for 31 minutes you are not going to beat them for speed and that showed. But if we take them to 38 minutes and you can see that with the pace we played the game. The tries we let them in for were too soft. We knew we would come through towards the end, that was always going to be the case. We had to take them there to get the opportunity. But trying to make up 30 points to nil you just don’t do it against a team who are solid defensively.

“Maybe a lot of people who came to watch on Sunday might have quite enjoyed the game. There was a lot of ball-in-play time and a lot of running rugby. Opportunity missed on all counts, that’s how I feel. That’s why I had a face of thunder on the touchline.”

IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE WIN AT GLOUCESTER THIS WEEKEND BEFORE THE BREAK

“It’s massive. A win could elevate us from fifth to second, which would put us in a really strong position going into the business end of the season. I am not being deluded here; we realise we have lost four on the bounce, but it doesn’t feel like we have lost four on the bounce. The place is very buoyant with the opportunity we have given the young boys and some of the growth in our attack which was evident at the weekend. We feel like we are still growing which is the key but we put it to the players this morning about the importance of this game. That message has landed with the players. Now it’s probably a case of taking a bit off them in terms of fear and expectation. You have got to sit on this result for six, seven weeks before you can really put it right. There is what it does for us in the league and the fact that you will rest a bit easier and enjoy your time off safe in the knowledge you have put yourself in a good position. Those things are the big driving forces.”

TOM ROEBUCK

“I think he has changed as a player since training with England in 2022. That was a big step at the weekend when he got selected on Monday. He was nervous about not injuring himself and almost went into the self-preservation mode where a) you close up, b) you go within yourself, always looking for things that could affect your admittance from the squad rather than further your selection for the starting team. We talked about it Monday, Tuesday and he made that mental shift and I thought he was brilliant at the weekend. He had 16 carries, could have gone over for another try or two. For him to have that novelty of being selected and then show them why he was selected even when he is in to push for a starting spot I think that showed growth.”

MANU TUILAGI’S FUTURE

“We have talked about it and we are finding it difficult to fit him in the cap. He is costing the cap more than what his salary was because he was the marquee player, now George Ford is the marquee. It means you average out what he was earning to what he is earning now so it is not just a case of his money coming out of the cap.”

WILL NEW SIX NATIONS NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY SERIES GROW THE GAME?

“With the right characters and enough access yes. I think the game is brilliant enough and the characters within it are interesting enough to gather worldwide attention and hopefully bring in what we are hoping is a new audience, a younger, more family-orientated one. It comes down to production, access and content, what people are willing to show. The public want to see behind-the-scenes, not just an editorial or marketing documentary for the RFU.

‘Any interest in rugby on the big stage will filter down. We know that most of the TV money and most of the neutral spectators support the players, not the clubs. If we can get them playing for their clubs more, which they are doing now, then the neutral supporter will end up coming to the club to watch the players. Any publicity is good publicity.”

YOUNGSTERS IMPRESSING LIKE REKEITI MA’ASI-WHITE

“Can I just wax-lyrical about some of the young lads because that has been the growth. How good was Tumy? He didn’t come off better in every scrum but he held his own against the heaviest tighthead side of the scrum in world history. Around the park he was magnificent. Ben Bamber has done it against the Stormers, Leinster and La Rochelle. He has put his hand up, saying he can compete at this level. That is a guy who was working nights in a factory two years ago. Really happy with him. Nye Thomas getting a bit more game-time and looking sharp around the rucks. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, you see him in training and think jeez he has talent. Mega talent. We have re-signed him and he is staying on. He cuts these lines like the one he made in a break on Sunday and he does it every training session, making breaks. As soon as he starts getting the ball in his hands and seeing it then he gets confidence and he will start to flow. It started to happen on the weekend. He got four or five carries and you can see how strong he is and how good his timing is. A lot more to come from that young individual as we have with the rest of them. That has been the best part of the last four weeks.

“I let Rekeiti decide what his best position is. He can play both 12 and 13. He cuts that really good line in the 13 channel but for us in terms of having a banger at 12 he works well for us there. He is a little bit in Manu’s mould. He is thick-set. His handling is good. His confidence and communication needs to improve and hopefully that will be age-thing. He is the youngest of a few brothers in a Tongan family so sometimes that is hierarchal. Hopefully we will bring it out of him in time.”

INJURY UPDATE

Jonny Hill- “He has ruptured his patella tendon. It is a five-month injury. I doubt we will see him again this season. We won’t see him again this season. He has had a scan, he has to wait two weeks whilst the swelling goes down but it gets operated. I am really gutted for him and gutted for us.”

Luke Cowan-Dickie- back with us at the moment, medical confidentiality, undisclosed medical illness, expected to be back in training with England within 10 days, had to come off on Sunday due to this issue

Ersnt van Rhyn training, Cobus Wiese looking good and trained today (Wednesday), Joe Carpenter jet-setting around and looking sharp, Simon McIntyre back

Dan du Preez- muscles around hip and groin tightened up, moving around today (Wednesday), possible if not probable

Tom Ellis- Will Skelton landed on his toe, it was a mess, shattered in three places so he has a broken toe

Raffi Quirke and Manu Tuilagi still with us, Manu running pitch side Wednesday, he is 2/3 weeks off, Raffi maybe a little longer

Luke James first session back Wednesday and didn’t look like he had been away

OTHER NEWS

Re-signings set to be announced next week

Holy grail of form is erasing fear- ‘channelling your inner Luke Littler’

Never easy going down to Gloucester, expecting a real physical battle

Arron Reed passed HIA tests, training with Scotland Tuesday and Wednesday, back with Sale Thursday

Spending up to the cap thinking it is going up despite it not being absolutely set in stone that it is increasing

Mentors include Bill Beswick, Wayne Hoyle and his mum

Still thinks the team can work harder

The break is massive to take a step back, change a few things, re-energise, refresh, getting injured players back, break coming at the right time