ALEX SANDERSON MEDIA SESSION 24/3/2026

Review of Exeter game

“The responses were really good off the back of a bad start, 12 points down. We came right back into it. Our set-piece was good, scoring a try from an opposition scrum five metres out, that shows signs of growth. I was really happy with our phase defence. Our set-piece defence caught us out on a few occasions, some of our execution has to be better, scoring more tries from the opportunities we created. We were in inaccurate and sloppy at the start.”

Return of the England internationals

“Dickie is loud, as he is! He walked back in saying “I’m back, I’m back, I’m not as crap as everyone says I am!” which was a good ice-breaker. Fordy is on it, leading from the front. Buck looks sharp and really fast and Bevan Rodd, who has not had a lot of good time, looks fresh. So we have had those four lads coming back in and really lifting the energy and standards.

“I think you will see the best of George, consistently when he has gone through some adversity, when his form or performance or contribution has been challenged, he comes back a better version of himself. That is eight times in his international career he has been in this position. This is the opportunity this weekend against the champions, next weekend against Quins in the Champions Cup, where he can show what he is about. So you will see the best of him, I am convinced.

“Luke is a British and Irish Lion twice and deservedly so. He is a great player. I have no dispersions over the quality of player he is or the man he is. He had a tough time of it in the Six Nations but you go through those ebbs and flows. He is back and in good form.”

The impact of the du Preezs

“Emotionally it is a wrench [to lose them]. I have built strong relationships with them all, I have seen them all marry, have kids and make Manchester their second home. From a rugby perspective, their contribution has led to our success over the last five years, success in inverted commas because we have not won a cup. Rob has not missed a game in the Prem for like 80 games, he has a record. The other two are scary. They are pretty big shoes to fill, especially with the game model that we have played in recent years, they have been fundamental.

“I would like to think we have helped them as well, we got JL back into the Springbok squad and got a more lucrative contract out in Bordeaux. Rob is in the last chapter of his career and potentially going to earn the most amount of money, which is important for his family and the experience of life in France. With JL and Rob going, it was probably an easier decision for him to leave now and have a change of environment which he needs. We have made a great outside centre of Rob. I would like to think the contribution and respect goes both ways.

“An offer was put to Dan. I did think he would go to France as he is a player who would do really well in the Top 14 with all the gain line dominance and physicality. However he has a previous relationship with Johan van Graan, there are a few South Africans down there and Bath is not a bad place to live. It is a good choice for him.”

On the possibility of a ‘Big Game’ for Sale in the future

“Four or five years ago, when the purse strings were a little tighter, it was not considered a profitable enough or feasible enough venture. But more recently, we struggled to get the pitches. The football teams will not give them up. [Man] City do not need our money, [Man] United will not let you play until the end of the season. The Reebok Stadium [Bolton], for its location, I do not think was a worthwhile opportunity to get crowds from our locality for the most part. I have heard about Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, I have heard it is really good and England are playing there in the summer.

“So, we are looking at it. I do want it. It is good exposure. If we are all right to take a bit of a hit for one or two years, like Quins showed and Saracens showed, then by the third or fourth year of your big game, you actually start filling out and making a profit. But it takes a couple of years of speculating. Every team needs it. Every team needs more, and more interest, more investment, more innovation to get to multiple streams of revenue, but it is a little bit above my pay grade. It is something that I will mention again.”

Byron McGuigan’s and Mike Forshaw’s permanent return

“It was an opportune time for Byron to focus on his future, with Forsh being in house it allowed us to focus on our future, which is with him. Both parties felt it was the right thing to do. Mike’s appointment is long-term because he is a quality coach and if he was not with us at this point it might have meant a different scenario with Byron. These are all hypotheticals though and conversations we had over the Six Nations.”

Nathan Jibulu

“I was opposite him in training as he is involved in our launch/ strike plays as you want to get the ball in his hands and he is a bull of a man. He has got footwork but he is probably our best ball carrier. He has allied that with his defensive capabilities, he is smashing people in defence and his darts at the weekend were really good. I think we are getting to a point where he could be contending for an international position. He is one of the crop coming through. Physically he is massive and he made Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, who is a big lad, look small. We have two very good hookers in Nathan and Luke [Cowan-Dickie].”

INJURY LATEST

Asher Opoku-Fordjour back in full training but unlikely to play this weekend, probably a couple weeks ahead of schedule in his recovery

Tom Curry not back for this weekend, European game against Quins “a very small possibility but it may be a little longer”

OTHER NEWS

Question has been raised about prioritising players who are here for the long term, saw that at the weekend with some of the younger players on the bench at the weekend like Gilmore, Logan, Davies, McEachran, what he is not going to do is not select players who are leaving to the detriment of the team

Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tom Roebuck were the three England players who had to have a mandatory one-week rest period following Six Nations

“Not only have we spent to the cap but we saved on the cap last year in terms of front-loading players to free up more money and we will probably back-pay next year so we can get the squad that is not only competitive but gives us that extra edge from the last four years”, there or thereabouts in terms of recruitment

Toughest season Al has had on memory, but always feels like that, some of the stuff that happened at Sarries was also challenging, but he is loving trying to find a solution and feels alive, Al likes the pressure cooker

Whole organisational review has been conducted in-season during the Six Nations window in every department, due to a really aggressive recruitment policy we have had to let go of the most players Al has had to let go in a season, which is difficult, clearly there are things we could have done differently and done better with the appointments he has made, every club goes through this period of turmoil which sheds light through the cracks where you need to improve

Raffi Quirke is “at his best at the moment, fighting for position in the England squad this summer and for the World Cup”