Sale director of rugby Sanderson draws inspiration from runner
‘Today is a good day to die’: Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson draws inspiration from late runner Steve Prefontaine as the Sharks look to avenge last weekend’s agonising defeat to Exeter and reach the Premiership final
- Sale led Exeter 19-3 before squandering their lead against 14 men at Sandy Park
- The two now meet again in Devon on Saturday with a Premiership final at stake
- Alex Sanderson has drawn inspiration from Steve Prefontaine ahead of the clash
- The late runner had a mantra that ‘the only good race pace is suicide pace’
- Sanderson wants Sale to take that on board and blow their opponents away
Alex Sanderson was close to tears earlier this week as he spoke about Sale’s Premiership title quest, and his side will take all that emotional intensity into their clash with Exeter today.
The Cheshire club are back in Devon, seven days after throwing away a 19-3 lead against the reigning champions, who fought back to snatch a 20-19 win which secured a home semi-final.
Sale’s near-miss convinced them they can upset the Chiefs and their director of rugby revealed an unexpected inspiration, saying: ‘There’s a quote by a guy called Steve Prefontaine, who was a runner — he died at the age of 24.
Exeter trailed by 16 points before rallying with 14 man to claim a sensational win on Saturday
Alex Sanderson will be hoping his side can manage this weekend’s game more effectively
‘His coach hated him, because he wouldn’t run a strategy in a race. He thought it was cowardly, to pull back or accelerate.
‘His mantra was, ”The only good race pace is suicide pace — and today is a good day to die.” I feel that in these kind of games, you’ve got to go at a hell of a pace regardless of whether it’s the start or the second half.
‘Generally, the team that throws the towel in first ends up coming off second best. We are not going there to ease our way into it and I am sure they’re not either.’
Despite losing so narrowly, Sale took a lot of confidence from how they pushed Exeter to the brink.
‘I don’t think anyone else gave us a hope,’ said Sanderson. ‘From what I hear — and I know this because my wife went down as one of about four or five Sale supporters — some of their injured players in pre-match corporate were saying they were going to beat us by 30.
Sale’s director of rugby has challenged his side to set a breakneck pace against the champions
‘We knew we could go down there and get a bonus point. We believed that. Now we know it and knowledge is power, isn’t it?’
It is Sanderson’s first season in charge at Sale but his impact has been so immediate that they are one step away from the club’s second final — 15 years after winning the title.
Exeter to triumph as Nowell makes surprise return
Jack Nowell has recovered from a knee injury and has surprisingly been picked to start at full back — leaving Scotland captain and Lion Stuart Hogg on the bench.
Jonny Gray and Richard Capstick come into the title holders’ pack for banned Sam Skinner and Dave Ewers.
Sale have Curry brothers Tom and Ben in the back row and Marland Yarde has been recalled to start, but AJ MacGinty and Akker van der Merwe have been ruled out, so Rob du Preez and Curtis Langdon come in.
Prediction: Home win
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article