Another intriguing media session with Sale Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson today (Tuesday 26th April) ahead of Friday night’s game against Newcastle in the Gallagher Premiership. Sanderson covered a number of topics including an injury blow for Raffi Quirke, the return of Tom Curry and the excitement ahead of the upcoming games.
Quirke out for the season
Gutting news was delivered by Alex Sanderson as Raffi Quirke has been ruled out for a number of months with a torn tendon in his hamstring picked up against Bristol.
“He is having an operation today so he will be out right up until the latter stages of the pre-season, 40% tear in the ligaments (of the tendon in his hamstring). The positives are its fixable with an operation because its only a 40% tear. The surgeon is extremely confident that this is going to fix it and it is going to be good for it. And then it comes down to a few really important conversations of someone that young how we keep them on the field, how can we manage him so that he becomes more robust going forward. He has got a really good support basis and very close to his family. He has made strides in terms of managing his expectations and what he can control in terms of selection. It’s the first ceiling he has hit this so it is a massive learning curve for him and these kind of things only help you to grow. On the positive side he has just found out he needs an operation three or four days ago and before yesterday he said he is going to come back stronger. He has already reframed it in his mind and sees it as an opportunity to physically be better in terms of his skillset in the same way that Tom Curry did when he got injured early on in his career so he has got good mentors in Manu and Tom.”
When asked about bringing in another scrum-half next season, Sanderson has given his backing to the young scrum-halves at the club.
“There are limitations of the salary cap and I don’t want to block the pathway of the likes of Nye Thomas who is playing really well for the England Under 20’s. We have kept Cliffy back for another year. Gus Warr has probably exceeded expectations, he was on loan at Doncaster last year and even at the start of this year but because of the injuries we had at the start of this year he gained more experience and got more confident. So I am confident we have got enough in our ranks there at least over the next year for Nye to come through and Gus to keep growing when Raffi is away. I might be proven wrong but I would rather that be the preferred route than just buy someone in.”
Curry back
On a more positive fitness note, Sale will welcome back England and British and Irish Lions star Tom Curry against Newcastle on Friday night.
“It’s great, you want all your best players playing their best rugby. He won’t be playing his best rugby because he has been out for a while. He seems excited which is important considering some of the bad luck he has had. The best players tend to roll with the punches. They carry stress well or else they wouldn’t be able to compete at that level. We have to understand that he is 23 years old and he is only human so going through the Six Nations and the injuries it would take its toll on anyone. This injury is not what we wanted but it has given him time to get his head straight”
USA fly-half AJ MacGinty is also back training but this week might come too soon.
Excitement for upcoming fixtures
Sale are coming off a bye week and Sanderson said that everyone at the club is excited about the coming weeks.
“There is real excitement. We are into the European Quarter-Finals, brilliant but we are still in the fight in the Premiership. We haven’t got an easy run-in but we are not throwing the towel in. You can only control what you control which is win these next three games and see where the chips fall. I was a bit worried because of what is on the horizon that some of the lads might come in this week and might be self-preserving but that just hasn’t been the case. They have been so energised and thankful for the break. They realise that we have fought so hard that they don’t want to waste it”
RDP chosen at 10 instead of Wilkinson
In AJ MacGinty’s absence in recent weeks, Sanderson chose to move Rob du Preez back to his more traditional position of 10 ahead of young fly-half Kieran Wilkinson. Sanderson admitted that decision was driven by a desire for experience.
“We were going into Europe and it was truthfully about experience. We have given Kieran (Wilkinson) a real good crack and we know what he can do but I didn’t think he was quite at the level we wanted him to be but we have given him opportunities through the course of the year.”
Meet-up with South African coaching staff
Alex Sanderson discussed the recent meet-up with South African coaches Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones. He explained that they received feedback from Nienaber and Jones and shared their experiences. They shared ideas on how to adjust gameplans when coming up against a team that looks to shut down your main strengths which happened recently against Bristol in the first leg of the European Champions Cup Last 16. The South Africans used their experience playing against Australia and how to best deal with it tactically. Sanderson said he was looking forward to taking up their offer of going over to South Africa next year.
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