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Alex Sanderson convinced Sale winger will be world-class
By PA
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson hailed his side after they recorded a thumping 39-25 bonus-point win over rivals Leicester at Salford Stadium.
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Aaron Reed’s brace laid the platform for a blistering period early in the second half which saw young prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour also touch down as the Sharks romped to victory.
The first half was an altogether tighter affair and ended 12-11 to the hosts with tries from back-rower Dan du Preez, making his 100th Sale appearance, and prop Bevan Rodd.
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Michael Cheika’s Tigers scored through Nicky Smith, Freddie Steward and George Martin but Sale ran out worthy winners and claimed a sixth score through Luke Cowan-Dickie.
After Sale rose to sixth in the Premiership table, Sanderson said: “We scored a couple of tries in the first half and then just came out brave.
“We’ve talked about being brave when we attack and they went out in the second half and looked to play.
“There were some good lines and tries against the best – statistically speaking – defence in the Premiership.”
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Sanderson paid tribute to Scotland winger Reed and Opoku-Fordjour, who made his England debut in the Test victory over Japan seven days earlier.
He added: “Arron is an international-class winger but I think he will get to world-class status.
“He’s getting better and better and we had a chat at the end of last season before he went on tour with Scotland.
“I told him he’s going to make it happen and get into the Scotland team, so I can only see his performances and career going on an upward trajectory.
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“He’s so young and so good – and it’s going that way for him. He’s playing better and better for club and country and is a great lad to coach.”
On Opoku-Fordjour, Sanderson enthused: “Asher doesn’t show a lot of emotion – his excited face, nervous face and sad face all look the same.
“But he said he felt sharp today and he looked it, but it’s important that we look after him and protect him to a degree.
“Asher’s going to have a crash at some point, so we need to make sure we manage that and build him back up. But we’ve got a plan for him because his rise so far has been meteoric.”
Tigers boss Cheika bemoaned his side’s display.
He said: “We just weren’t aligned with what’s required. We did some good work in some patches, but the fundamentals weren’t consistent enough.
“With the scrum, there were far too many penalties, we were dominated in the maul and defensively we weren’t at our level.
“But there are no excuses because that isn’t our mentality at all, so it can be a positive for us to realise that there’s another level for us to climb up to.”
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Luke James needs praising - fantastic at 12.