Alex Sanderson hails ‘northern grit’ in bad tempered Prem win

Alex Sanderson hailed Sale’s “northern grit” as they earned a scrappy 20-15 opening round win over Northampton Saints.

First-half tries from Tom Roebuck, Tom O’Flaherty and Ethan Caine helped the north-west side make a winning start to their Gallagher Premiership campaign.

Last season’s runners-up were far from their fluent best but Sanderson was heartened by their ability to win while not at their best.

“That was a really hard-fought win – it was real backs-to-the-wall stuff at the end,” said Sharks director of rugby Sanderson.

“We had to show plenty of northern grit and determination.

“On a different day we maybe would have lost that one, but in the end we’ve muscled up, knuckled down and got the result.

“They all showed just why I love this group so much. The lads showed heart, and they fight so, so hard for one another. I’m very proud of them.”

James Ramm’s late try fuelled hope that Saints might nick a first win at Sale since 2017.

But with both sides depleted due to Rugby World Cup commitments, gutsy defending from the hosts proved the difference and Sanderson now wants his side to go to the next level after last season’s effort.

“We know what we need to do in order to succeed,” he said. “We did well last season, but it still wasn’t good enough.

“If you don’t look to keep improving, you’ll find yourselves actually going backwards.”

Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson felt his side, who finished fourth and lost in the play-offs last term, were not too far away from causing an opening day shock in the Manchester suburbs.

“We had quite a few opportunities to run better with the ball, but it didn’t always happen for us,” he said. “We left it a little bit too late really.

“We dropped the ball in good positions a bit too often, and we just didn’t convert the opportunities when they came our way.

“Fair play to Sale, they defended so hard in that three or four minutes late on, but overall we didn’t ask them enough questions over the course of the 80 minutes.

“There’s lots of things and lots of positives to take away, though.

“I thought we gave good bang for our buck. The lads couldn’t have worked any harder, but it just wasn’t enough today.”