Sale v Leicester Preview

By Strinesian Saleanian
September 1 2004

The waiting is nearly over. As the teams prepare for gladiatorial combat and to wage a prolonged campaign for the right to... oh, what tosh. The season starts on Sunday, folks. Leicester come a-calling and Strinesian Saleanian has been mulling things over...

DING DING, ROUND ONE.

So here we go, the gloves are off, this is the real deal.

Pre-season friendlies against Perpignan, Beziers and the Glasgow double-header have hopefully informed PSA, Jim and Kingsley of Sale’s strengths and stronger strengths, and they will be looking to improve on last season’s mixed bag of results against the Tigers – two outstanding victories at Welford Road, in League and Cup, an attritional 3-3 draw at home in the league, and a poor end of season defeat in the ZP play-off final at Twickenham.  But more of that later, first the opposition:

Leicester start as the bookies favourites to unseat Wasps as Champions this year.  Following a disappointing, if somewhat disrupted, season last year, they certainly have a lot to prove.  Deprived of 7 players to the Rugby World Cup last term, they failed to get off to their traditional steamroller start.  Now all are back (with the exception of Dorian Gray, sorry West, who has retired and moved on to coach at the England Academy with Jim Mallinder), and the pack now looks a formidable unit once again with a possible 8 of international experience (from England ‘A’ to world cup winners): perm any two props from Morris, White and Rowntree, with Chuter at hooker (or even Cocky – euphemistically described on the official Leicester site as “one of the game's most spirited players”!), second row choices of Kay, Deacon and a bloke called Martin, and a back row from Back, Corry, Moody (when fit), the under-rated Skinner or Henry Tuilagi, with Will completing a brace of Johnsons.

In the backs, there is no doubt that Tigers have suffered a blow with their loss of the inspirational Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen.  Last season’s full back, Andy Goode looks most likely to be playing at 10, therefore, and will no doubt be targeted by many an openside flanker over the coming months.  That being said, he is certainly no ‘weak link’  - Goode ended the 2003/4 season as the top premiership points scorer with 266 in total (his 151 points for Leicester and 115 for Saracens meant he was the top points scorer in each team!).  Service from the scrum will be provided by Harry Ellis, a personal favourite of mine, who has already represented England at  'A' team, U16, U18, U19 and U21 levels, and is a sure-fire England 9 of the future.  

Both the half-backs will have a certain Mr Healey coveting their positions, but he is more likely to be found on the wing.  Although unlikely to be looking for a 100m rematch against Chris Jones, Healey was responsible for hammering several nails into the Sharks’ coffin during the play-off final and remains a dangerous presence on the park.  He too will be surrounded by experienced and potential match-winners in the ample shapes of All Black Daryl Gibson, England’s Ollie Smith and Leon Lloyd, new signing Fijian Seru Rabeni, and the peerless Dubliner, Geordan Murphy, recovered from his broken leg and returning at 15.  Oh, and one more thing, Freddie Tuilagi has been replaced by brothers Alex and Andy!

In conclusion, Leicester obviously have a very capable pack (the master of understatement strikes again!) who, if allowed to dominate, will win more than enough ball for their backs to cut loose and run in a shed load of points – does this remind anybody of their 48-27 win at HQ?

So what about the Sale boys?  Well, firstly, don’t under-estimate the significance of the overall picture from last season: P4 W2 D1 L1.  ZP play-off apart, we were more than a match for the Tigers team, and before anybody points to the RWC absentees, you can only beat whoever is in front of you.  That being said, let’s be realistic, Leicester on Sunday will be a different outfit to the team we met in the league last year – following our 3-3 draw in February, they were unbeaten for the remainder of the season (and have had a successful pre-season, with wins against Edinburgh, 36-0, and Cardiff, 31-13).

Sale will have a simple, 2 point plan: (a) win the ball up front, and (b) give it to the backs!  In order to achieve the first we will be looking to massive commitment in the tight.  Pre-season friendlies have shown an improvement over the pack which finished last season.  The addition of Woodman, supplemented by Sheridan, means we have an aggressive ball-carrying, tackle-breaking loosehead on the field for the full 80 minutes, or if ‘Ted’ switches to tighthead, as he did in the Glasgow games, we should have both for the majority of the match.  The influence of another new signing, and instant crowd-favourite, Sebastian Chabal in the back row has also proved to be significant - as long as he maintains his discipline (his constant mouthing off during the games in France was reminiscent of Martin Johnson ‘at his best’, and his apparent running commentary would have even given ‘Spreaders’ a run for his money…OK, maybe not!)

In Titterell, Jones and White we have players to match anything the Leicester pack threaten in the loose.  Prior to the Glasgow games, it was widely expected that one of the latter two would almost certainly be starting in the donkey row - which will obviously cut down on mobility – although both Christian Day and Dean Schofield have staked impressive claims.  If PSA wants a ‘specialist’ open side, one of the ‘youngsters’, Perrett or Lund, could start after both also performed well pre-season. At present, with all those listed above, it is the back-row where Sale, without doubt, have the biggest strength in depth – especially when one considers that ‘Big Red’, who has yet to set foot on the park this term, will presumably be ‘chomping at the bit’ and will be a bullocking force to be reckoned with when he is introduced.  Whatever the starting 8, there will be experienced and form players waiting on the bench.

As suggested above, the real key may be the second row combination.  The loss of Lobbe was a cruel blow, but after four pre-season games in which various combinations have been looked at by PSA and KJ, it is to be hoped that the coaches have discovered the correct balance.  The importance cannot be underestimated, as lineout possession will be crucial (a real problem in France with neither Rodders, Bruno or Titts regularly finding their man – especially at the back).  It is ironic that this was the area, where Sale led the ZP statistics last season - the departure of players and coach to London Sale has been most sorely missed in this department so far.  Fortunately, the games against Glasgow saw significant improvement, and it is vital this is maintained.

Realistically, when going forward, a combination of Redpath with either Hodgson or Hercus should prove a superior pairing to Ellis and Goode.  Sale really are blessed with two of the most exciting and attacking fly halves in the Premiership.  Good, flat ball, moved quickly to the back three of Cueto, Hanley and Robinson is going to cause chaos and panic for any premiership team – this is another area, after all, where Sale can justly claim to have the best combination in the league.  No doubt ‘Frank’ and ‘Stan’ will again be in the mix when the Premiership’s top try scorer is decided next April.  Whoever wins that particular race, it’s going to be great fun watching the boys from Cumbria on the attack.

It has been argued elsewhere that the losses (temporary or otherwise) of Bond and Payne have deprived Sale of their ‘number one pairing’ in the centre, so perhaps the time has come for the revitalised ‘veteran’ Robert Todd and youngster Chris Rhys Jones (yet another ‘former Jet’ with ZP experience already) to prove the doubters wrong.  Alternatively, the ‘old head’ of Jos will be called on to organise the defence.  Strength in depth in the three-quarters is provided by the combative Sililo Mertens and the ever-improving Chris Mayor, whilst home fans still await the introduction of another summer signing, utility back Josh Taumalolo.  Who knows, maybe his arrival will see Robbo in the centres?

So a probable sell-out crowd in front of the TV cameras (don’t forget to set the video for 13.30) will witness the pointer for the rest of the season – Leicester are the past masters at slowing down the ball and choking possession, but if Sale’s pack can hit the ground running and win enough up front we can win the game, it’s as simple as that!

I wonder if the Royal Oak is doing Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding on the barbie…