Alex Sanderson urges talented Sale Sharks youngsters to 'become legends' in bid for Gallagher PREM title glory
Updated 03/10/2025 at 10:46 GMT+1
Can Sale Sharks finally win a second Gallagher PREM title, 20 years after their first? Director of rugby Alex Sanderson hopes that his side's maturing youngsters and new coaching hires can help them take that next step. Sale face a litmus test in week two of the new season, travelling to take on reigning champions Bath, live on Friday night on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Highlights: Ford stars as Sale beat Gloucester on opening night of new season
Video credit: TNT Sports
Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson wants the club's young stars to become "legends" as he eyes a bid for title glory in 2025/26.
It was a case of so near yet so far for Sale last term, making the play-offs after finishing third in the Gallagher PREM regular season, but coming up short against an Adam Radwan-inspired Leicester Tigers in a captivating semi-final.
Sale have a roster of talented up-and-comers in their ranks, marshalled expertly by all the experience not just of Sanderson, but also of on-pitch general George Ford.
They began their campaign with an impressive 27-10 win over Gloucester, but face an altogether different task in week two, travelling to defending champions Bath - live on Friday night on TNT Sports and discovery+.
"We've got high hopes of doing better than we did last year," Sanderson told TNT Sports' Sarra Elgan.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how some of our junior internationals mature, hopefully, into mainstayers.
"The likes of Tom Roebuck, Bevan Rodd, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White who's pushing, maybe he can get into there, and create [make themselves] legends of the game.
"That's a buzz for me, the individual potential of these lads."
As well as the summer turnover in his squad - that saw the likes of Jacques Vermeulen and England youth star Patrick Hogg join the club - Sanderson was busy reshaping his coaching staff too, and revealed which French club have acted as his inspiration.
"I'd like us - at the end of the season as a coaching group - to be good friends," Sanderson said.
"And that's saying something because there are a couple of lads that have come in - [attack coach] Joey Ford and [head coach] Marco Bortolami - who we've got to learn [from] and earn that trust from.
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Highlights: Leicester battle past Sale to reach Premiership Final
Video credit: TNT Sports
"I'd like us to be able to co-coach better than what we have in the past, and we've taken some of that from Toulouse, who we visited post-our last-16 [Champions Cup] game.
"We went into their camp and said 'we can do this better'.
"I think we have the potential to be one of the best coaching teams in Europe. We're setting our sights high there, and affirmation of that will be how we perform against Toulouse away again this year - they're the benchmark for us."
After coming so close in recent seasons, there are some - including TNT Sports' David Flatman - who wonder if it could finally be Sale's year.
"If there's one team who always do well, they're always in the conversation come the end of the season, who I would love to go one step further and really deliver - it would be Sale Sharks," Flatman said on the eve of the season.
"I just love what they're about, [I'm a] big Alex Sanderson fan - as everyone is.
"I feel like they're a really good group of people, a really good group of players who haven't quite got there - and wouldn't it be satisfying to see them do it?"
Watch and stream the Gallagher PREM, Quilter Nations Series and Premiership Women's Rugby on TNT Sports and discovery+
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