REFLECTIONS ON DEFEAT AT NEWCASTLE LAST WEEK
“It was a tough night for us. I think we learnt a lot about ourselves. We had a couple of really good performances the previous two weeks. I thought we showed up really well against Bedford and we put our best foot forward against Leicester. They had a really strong team out and I thought that we matched them quite well in a lot of areas. So going into the Newcastle game we were quite buoyant and wanted to really step on and move the needle with our game model.
“We didn’t. We really struggled for territory, we turned the ball over a lot and didn’t get that fluency that we were after in the game. Some of that was down to Newcastle, who I thought played really well. We counted 16 unforced errors in the first half where we let the pressure out of the bubble. We like to apply pressure and squeeze teams but we weren’t able to do that. So the big focus this week has been around how we get back to our game model and find the areas where we can really apply that pressure and squeeze teams a bit better.”
ANY RUSTINESS IN THAT PERFORMANCE?
“There was a bit of rustiness with a few players coming in for their first games, which you can expect. There were senior players who had returned from injury, a few lads who had been away and come back like Jean-Luc du Preez who was in the Springbok camp. Nick Schonert has been getting re-integrated back into the programme. The intent and physicality was certainly there, just some execution and elements of the detail of how we got around the field weren’t. They are easy fixes.
“The players will learn those lessons now and putting the faults right rather than think everything is going swimmingly and then come round one you suddenly get shocked which has happened in the past. We had a similar game at Connacht last year where we felt we were travelling really well and they taught us a bit of a lesson. The learnings we gained from that put us in a much better stead then for the year ahead. We will certainly take the positives out of that performance and the also the solutions to some of the issues we had.”
PLAN FOR FINAL TWO PREM RUGBY CUP GAMES
“We have to prioritise what is right for us and for our preparation going into round one of the Premiership. That will definitely mean getting some more senior players more minutes in games so you will see a lot more senior lads feature on teamsheets because they are going to need gametime. You cannot go into the start of the Premiership cold. The nature of the Prem Cup during the season is an opportunity for lads on the fringes or coming back from injury. Whereas in this instance we need to use this as an opportunity for us to refine our game model and try and put some of those things right that we learnt from Newcastle. We have got to do what is right for us which will mean more senior players featuring over the next couple of weeks.”
INJURY UPDATE
Dan du Preez- been training with the squad for the last two weeks, tracking well, got through so physical hard labour, will feature during these next couple of games
Cobus Wiese- a little bit behind DDP, trained the last couple of weeks, different injury to DDP being a lower limb injury, takes a bit more time to re-integrate into training, could feature against Ampthill or if not first Prem game
Raffi Quirke- similar timeline to DDP, been involved in training last couple of weeks, set to feature over next couple of games
Ben Curry- behind likes of Raffi and DDP, just started his return to running, best-case scenario he will be back games 2/3/4 of Premiership
Luke Cowan-Dickie- “He is probably tracking ahead of schedule. His recovery has gone really well. His rehab has gone really well. The initial thoughts were it might be similar to be Ben but I think we might see Luke feature a bit sooner. He just needs to make sure he nails his strength markers to make sure he is safe to fully return to contact which he is quite close. He is chomping at the bit and we are having to put the reins on him and hold him back as you can imagine. We should be getting a lot of those long-term injuries back at the right time."
“There will be certain elements of his programme that will be managed and his return to play might be a bit more gradual than other instances because he has out been out of the game for such a long time. It is going to take him a bit of time to get back up to speed in terms of timing. The more gradual we can be with that the safer that is going to be for him rather than just take the reins off and throw his straight into the fire. There will be a plan in place for him where he gets re-integrated in. We have got Tommy Taylor in a similar position, who is coming back from a long-term injury in a similar predicament to Luke. We will get Agustín Creevy back from Argentina around the same time. We are in a good position where we can probably rotate the hookers and manage their minutes to make sure they get that gradual, safe return to play.”
HOW JAMIE’S MOVE TO SALE CAME ABOUT
“I retired from playing league eight, nine years ago. I transitioned into coaching at the London Broncos. From there I was able to get out and do a bit of personal development at various union clubs like Harlequins, Saracens, London Irish at the time. We were based at Ealing Trailfinders. It was a good opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and learn from different environments. I spent a bit of time at some of those clubs, including a couple of times at Saracens and made some connections there.
“I managed to form quite a strong relationship with Alex as he was down there. We shared different ideas and similar philosophies on the game, how you manage and get the best out of the players from a psychological perspective. I did a bit of work with them over the offseason. When Alex took the job up here he was looking to implement certain things in the environment. He got on the phone and asked whether I fancied a change of scenery coming back up north. It wasn’t coaching necessarily at first but predominantly an off-field role, looking at the performance and mental skills and how we can get the best out of the players. I came over in that capacity. London Broncos were in a transitional period after relegation so there was some uncertainty. I thought therefore it was a good opportunity to challenge myself in a different code at a club like Sale, a strong Premiership contender.
“Initially I came over in that off-field performance role and we were able to put some things in place and implement some practices and methodology we still use to this day. But it wasn’t until Mike Forshaw got offered the defence coach job at Wales which came out of the blue. It all occurred quite quickly, around a week before the start of the Six Nations. He did a great job at Sale and been here the best part of a decade and he said he would probably only have his head turned if it were an international job. He had to make his decision quickly and he went with all our blessings. We needed to fill that role rapidly and I already had a coaching background, granted in a different code, and a good relationship with Paul Deacon. I had been at the club for the best part of 18 months. There were some conversations behind the scenes and I was asked if I would step in, back into the coaching world looking after the defence. It has been a bit of a whirlwind since then but I have enjoyed it and learning a new code. We have got some brilliant coaches and fantastic players here.”
TAKING OVER FROM MIKE FORSHAW AS DEFENCE COACH
“A big part of this club is they look to promote from within rather than look externally if they can help it. I am from a coaching background. Coaching is coaching. The methodology is similar in lots of sports. It’s just the detail that is going to be different and you can learn that over time. They asked me if I wanted to step into that role. I felt like they believed in me and I could do a good job. Al is a defence coach by trade and Deacs is an intelligent coach. Byron McGuigan has stepped up onto the coaching staff this season and he has been a really big help for everyone. There is a hell of a lot to learn in the detail but you don’t need to change anything. We had a really good system under Mike Forshaw and the players have bought into that. It’s about chasing brilliance through simplicity.”
OTHER NEWS
Finding little improvements because defence has been so strong for a long period of time, no need to change too much as system has worked very well for a long time
Pressure is a subjective thing, doesn’t feel pressure filling Mike Forshaw’s shoes, speaks to Mike regularly
League influence on union could be down to league becoming professional before union, likes of Phil Larder, Mike Ford, Shaun Edwards, Andy Farrell
Players and coaches looking forward to away game at Caldy this weekend, going to a physical battle, mutual respect as they are one of partner clubs, wants to see Caldy doing well
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