Kitchen or Garden

By Strinesian Saleanian
January 31 2005

At a recent SSSC evening, PSA stated that when you buy a new house, you sort the kitchen (forwards) out first and then turn your attention to the garden (backs). To put it another way, "the forwards earn the money, the backs spend it". So how is the renovation progressing?

PSA inherited a team tipped to finish in the bottom three by almost all rugby pundits. The perception was of an unhappy squad and a divided management structure, as evidenced by the haemorrhaging of players and coaches alike. Few players apparently considered Sale to be a ‘step up’ in terms of their playing careers. Those we did manage to attract were all ‘rugby friends’ or former colleagues of PSA and/or new assistant Kingsley Jones.

At the beginning of the season, therefore, whilst the stated aim was qualification for the Heineken Cup (and quite rightly so), the unstated aim of many fans was simply to avoid relegation. Would we have accepted going into the Home Internationals in the top half of the league with a Challenge Cup semi on the horizon? Too right we would! In this respect then, we’re ahead of the game.

We look at the squad, which PSA publicly accepts lacks depth and class. We identify 3 major weaknesses – not enough front 5 cover, not enough options in the centres and nobody to replace Jason Robinson when England calls. But PSA had all these covered…Woodman/Bruno/Lobbe in the front 5, Payne in the centres (where it was also assumed Graeme Bond would also be playing!) and Taumalolo to cover Robbo. As we know so well, only one of these has been available this season, and even he’s been ‘nicked’ by France! Quality players are very rarely available when you need them most, but PSA had to go shopping again for replacements for his reinforcements (if you see what I mean). So in came the versatile Caillet, the ‘gem’ of a find Carter, and most recently Oriol Ripol. If we imagine, for a second, what our squad would be like if all the above players had been available this season…well, you get the drift!

So, as the Home Internationals approach, what must PSA be thinking with respect to his own 3 year plan for Sale. We now have a realistic aim of a top 3 finish. If we achieve that, I see nothing to fear in the play-offs – with our best 22 fit and available, we can beat anybody, anywhere. Perhaps we should start to BELIEVE that we can actually WIN this thing, rather than getting excuses in early about the carnage to the team caused by international call-ups – valid though these excuses undoubtedly are. The Challenge Cup provides an excellent opportunity for silverware, but must not be approached lightly nor taken for granted.

If we are this good a team in PSA’s first season of building the kitchen, what can we achieve over the next two seasons? Rather than dismiss Sale as a career choice, surely players will be actively looking to Sale as a source of employment. PSA has proved to be a canny operator so far and my money is on a rose garden – lovely to watch, but likely to inflict serious pain if you get too close!