Luke Cowan-Dickie
In the shape of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Sale are getting a world-class hooker. He has over 40 caps for England and is a British and Irish Lion. He is a winner, having won multiple Premiership titles and the European Champions Cup during his time at Exeter. Alex Sanderson has added another experienced winner to the ranks to complement the young talent coming through. In the last 12 months, he has brought in Premiership winners in the form of Cowan-Dickie, Jonny Hill, Tom O’Flaherty and George Ford.
His relationship with past teammates like Hill and O’Flaherty as well as England colleagues like Ford, Tom Curry and Manu Tuilagi will have played a role in him coming to Sale. Although it may not have been the biggest factor, those personal relations will have formed part of his decision.
In light of the disappointment of losing Ewan Ashman to Edinburgh and Scotland, Alex Sanderson made it clear he was on the look-out for a top-quality option at hooker. The club did have a look at Wallaby Tolu Latu. When speaking about a potential move for Latu in May, Sanderson said: “We are after the best, we are after good hookers with what we have left in the cap.”
When Cowan-Dickie became available after his move to Montpellier collapsed, Sanderson was clear he was very interested. When asked about whether he would be interested in signing the England hooker back in May, Sanderson admitted:
“Why wouldn’t we be interested in a player like Luke Cowan-Dickie if he becomes available? He’s a great player. I don’t know if we’d be in the right price point but he’s got mates up here as well. He fits into our game model in the Akker van der Merwe/ Ewan Ashman mould. He’s a banger. He ticks a lot of boxes on those fronts but I haven’t spoken to him.”
Latu ended up moving to Montpellier when Cowan-Dickie’s move there collapsed, paving the way for Sale to secure the services of Cowan-Dickie. In the end all parties will be very happy with how events have panned out.
Had Cowan-Dickie been available to Sale in the Premiership Final back in May, would Sale have beaten Saracens? Maybe. We will never know the answer to that question, but the line-out became an issue in the second half when Ashman replaced van der Merwe, who played really well in the final. One overthrown line-out towards Tom Curry ended up in three points for Saracens. These small margins in a final make a difference. That is not to say that in any way shape or form you can blame one player in a team sport, but in a game of fine margins these factors can play a huge role in the outcome of the game.
Cowan-Dickie is a significant upgrade on Ashman. That is not a criticism of the young Scottish hooker as he has a lot of potential. It is simply to highlight how good Cowan-Dickie is. Ashman could become a great player, but Cowan-Dickie is the far superior player. This is what Sanderson said when the deal was announced:
“Luke is a fantastic player and we feel really fortunate and happy to have secured him for the foreseeable future. Already it feels like a good match for him and for us, with the type of team we want to be on and off the pitch.
“To be able to bring in an England international and a British and Irish Lion to a squad that’s already as good as this one is really exciting. We’re all looking forward to working with someone who’ll bring new ideas.
“Last year was brilliant but we are always looking to improve. The worst thing would be to say ‘nothing changes’ because we did well last year. We have to keep improving and a big part of that is bringing in top quality players like Luke.”
The ankle and neck injuries will have been a cause for concern when the club were considering signing him. However, this deal would not have gone ahead if there were concerns from the medical term about his long-term fitness. No matter how good a player is, if there are lingering concerns over a player, a deal would not be sanctioned.
In recent interviews, Cowan-Dickie outlined that he is confident he will be fit for the start of the new Premiership season, which begins in October. You would imagine if he is ahead of schedule England will be very keen if they can to bring him into the squad. England head coach Steve Borthwick has already admitted that he will be keeping an eye on his recovery. If he was fully fit, he would probably be first choice hooker for England at the World Cup.
Looking at the financials, clearly Sale will not be able to offer the reported £300,000-per-year contract that Montpellier were set to pay him. However, now that he is staying in England, he will remain eligible for England, therefore he will now have the England money which you would imagine will compensate some of the difference in earnings between what he was set to earn at Montpellier and what he will earn at Sale.
Agustín Creevy
Obviously losing Akker van der Merwe was a big blow considering the impact he had on the club. It must have come as a surprise to Alex Sanderson considering what he said back at the end of March:
“He is not going back to South Africa next year, not from my understanding, and he wants to sign an extension. So I said I would sit down with him this week and we want to give him an extension because he is world-class. When his body and head is right he is world-class, one of the best in the world. And I like him as he adds a lot around the place. We will be looking to extend him, not let him go.”
The club needed to bring in someone with experience to replace him and with the sad demise of London Irish, Agustín Creevy became available. Perhaps good relations were built between the club and Creevy during the joint training sessions held with Argentina in the build-up to the Autumn Internationals last year.
When the deal was announced, Creevy admitted that he had other options but knew that Sale was right for him which highlights how strong a position the club is on and off the field.
Upon the announcement of the Creevy deal, Alex Sanderson said: “Agustín is a really good lad and his experience and know-how is going to be invaluable for our younger players.
“He just wants to give as much as he can, and he wants the final years of his playing career to be spent at a club challenging for trophies.
“We feel really lucky to have him because he’s had a lot of offers and turned them down. He was waiting for the right opportunity and this is a deal that works for us and for him.”
Experience is something Creevy has in bucket loads; he has recently reached 100 caps for Argentina; an amazing achievement. He has been impressive in a London Irish shirt in recent seasons and also previously played for Worcester so has plenty of experience in the Premiership. Clearly aged 38 Creevy is not a long-term addition; he is six years older than van der Merwe. But he will certainly improve the team now and will aid the development of the likes of Harry Thompson and Ethan Caine.
What Creevy and Cowan-Dickie will do is improve the set-piece. Van der Merwe was superb around the field and improved significantly at the set-piece specifically his accuracy at the line-out. However, both Creevy and Cowan-Dickie are superior to both Ashman and van der Merwe there.
Last season, Sale’s first and second options were van der Merwe and Ashman. Now that will be Cowan-Dickie and Creevy. Ask yourself, what is the better duo? It is Cowan-Dickie and Creevy.
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