Shallow Waters: Autumnal Mists

By smoothhound
December 3 2004

In this, the first of a what we hope to be a more-or-less regular series, the mysterious scribbler known only as smoothhound reflects on the recent series of autumn international games and the effect they have had on the team.

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THE coming of the November internationals has caused Sale’s bright start to the season to fade into the autumnal mists. The worst hit of all the club teams with 5 dispatched to England, one to France and one to Scotland, plus Herco off to the Eagles for a couple of games, Sale have been fortunate to only drop as far as third, but we’re there or thereabouts with Wasps, Bath and Gloucester. With Leicester out in front, its going to be a dogfight for second and third in the League, and a secure HC place.

NOW before you begin to think this is a diatribe against the AIs, please think again. My support pyramid is clear to me – Lions, England, Sale and anyone who plays the Aussies. The Lions don’t cause us a problem, they play out of season in the Southern Hemisphere, and don’t interfere with England or Sale. But even they have started to encroach with their proposed game at the Millennium Stadium against Argentina. You can also see the logic behind it, a warm-up game is an ideal part of the preparation before they set off for NZ, particularly after the form the ABs showed in Paris.

FOR England, there’s another pyramid – RWC, 6N and AIs & tours. But once again, to my mind, you need the AIs as preparation for the big tournaments. How else do you blood players such as Mark Cueto unless you bung him straight into the cauldron at Cardiff in February? The AIs have been perfect for him, fairly easy game against a reconstituted Canadian side, a good test against S Africa and a very difficult game against Australia. Likewise the England team. With only four starters from the World Cup winners, the Autumn series was an ideal team-building opportunity. Even the way the results panned out can be seen as beneficial, as confidence was gained against Canada, the Springboks brushed aside, and despite a tremendous second-half comeback against the Wallabies, a narrow loss. My take on the Cook Cup was that Australia, despite their injuries, played near the top of their game with a settled squad to squeak a win. England, very much a new side, have a great deal more to come. After the Autumn series, you could pencil in NZ as favourites for the RWC in 2007, with England’s recovery from their summer tour notable. The boastful Bokke and Whingers failed in their stated objectives to achieve a grand slam in their Autumn tours, and France’s two losses sent them tumbling down the rankings. What price Laporte being shown la porte?

WHERE does that leave Sale? Of particular interest to those who do place club above country. Its been difficult, to say the least. I thought that we may well be ready for the three League games we would have to play. Bath and Glos were more or less in the same boat as ourselves, and Quins, well it should have been a banker. PSA has rotated the squad, farmed out the fringe players particularly to Orrell, all to get them game time. The Catania fixtures provided an opportunity for the back-ups to play together. Yet we got three straight losses and one bonus point. Yes, we can point to international calls and injuries, but so can other clubs. We can point to Bath & Glos away and say they are difficult fixtures. But Leicester barely broke sweat. Drawing away at Wasps and winning the other two.

SO what went wrong? We already knew that we were going to lose both fly-halves – Mike’s the No. 1 for the Eagles, and even if Wilkinson had been fully fit, and more important, had any form to show, Charlie would have at least been on the bench. Jason is a shoe-in every time. Titterell’s on the edge of selection, and we knew too that we would lose Woodman, and that Sheridan had been under scrutiny. Jason White was a definite for Scotland (amazed that he was benched). The surprise packages were Cuets and Bruno – neither were a surprise to us, as we’d been watching them all season, but they weren’t on their respective national radars in September. Even if Lobbe had avoided injury and joined us, he too would have been whisked away to join the Pumas (he was injured playing alongside Albacete in an international).

ONE of the reasons could be that although our strength in depth has increased considerably this season, it is not deep enough. If that’s the case, then expect to see another strengthening exercise by PSA over the summer. Its worrying to see, as has been discussed in threads on the board, that recruitment hasn’t continued, and that mention of Payne, Lobbe and the Big Bok Prop seems to have died down. That perhaps indicates that we are close to the budget, with little room for manoeuvre, particularly as Hayward and Bozzi were picked up just for the Autumn Internationals. And if that is the case, then expect to see regional level players coming in, but we may have to lose one or two internationals to fund them.

ANOTHER reason is perhaps the lessening of a traditional feel to the club. Leicester, Gloucester and Bath trade on their tradition, and it stands them in good stead during difficult times. Although founded in 1861 with a long history, my perception is that we’ve drifted from our roots. We no longer play at Heywood Road, have less contact with Sale FC, call ourselves Sale Sharks, no longer play in the traditional club colours. The professional side has moved on, necessarily so in a number of areas, and for good reasons. The team itself has also displayed a closeness this season which has surprised the supporters after the Summer of the Scimitars. Yet shorn of its leading lights, perhaps without that tradition propping it up, the team has not done well to the evident disappointment of PSA (not to mention the rest of us).

IT'S difficult to put your finger on the reason. I suspect all of us have different thoughts. We seem to have a strong academy set-up, with players coming to the fore. Lund for instance has blossomed this season under KJ’s tutelage. Yet somehow the mix of old hands, new faces and youngsters was wrong, belief seemed to be lacking. We lost all three. Nobody said it would be easy.

AND for the near future? The New Year will bring the 6N, and we will find ourselves in a similar situation. Mike Hercus should remain with us, and if Trevor is fit, so should Sheri. The French are likely to face a big shake-up, and Bruno may find himself edged out. But we are still likely to lose six players. Let us hope Herco and Big Ted solidify the team – we have three games during the 6N without access to our international players - all away - London Irish, Wuss and London Sale. All three are winnable, all three will be necessary to our push for the HC. We must perform better than we did over the past three weeks.

TEAMS containing Sale players all lost over last weekend. The international players will have been travelling back in dribs and drabs over the weekend and very early part of this week, and will hopefully reintegrate into the squad quickly. Perhaps the Jets’ demolition of Leeds on Monday will spark a revival in our fortunes, and we can repeat the Narbonne away victory of a few seasons ago. Let us get on to the crisp, clear days and plays of winter.

BETTER not put this to bed without looking at the longer term. The playing field has to be levelled out. At the moment, the destination of the ZP championship can be said to be at the whim of national selectors. The way forward has to be to stop playing fixtures that affect the future financial position of clubs during internationals. Get rid of the ludicrous play-offs. Remove the HC place from the Powergen Cup, and play that during the internationals, perhaps allowing the ZP clubs earlier entry. Separate out the internationals from the club fixtures that rest on HC places. Our loyalties would not then be put to the test.