'On fire' South African bruiser praised in Sale rout of Ulster

Alex Sanderson hailed the “on fire” Rob du Preez after Sale’s captain for the day inspired his side to a convincing 39-0 win over Ulster in their Heineken Champions Cup opener.

The fly-half was among six Sale try-scorers in a one-sided encounter at the AJ Bell Stadium, while he also added nine points from the tee in a display which saw him lead by example.

Sanderson found little to fault from his side’s performance and singled out Du Preez for praise.

“As I said earlier in the season, Rob du Preez and George Ford have been really pushing our attack,” he said.

“I think it’s really helped that Rob has been on fire this season, so he’s making it easier for everyone else.

“We talked in the week about him being captain and that he has got to lead people around him as well.

“He was the one doing most of the talking in the huddles and he managed the game really well. I thought he carried it well today.

“I’m very pleased with how we’ve played and everything about the performance. It’s as close as you can get to an international as you can get, so we’re happy.”

Next up for Sale is a tough-looking trip to Toulouse, but Sanderson hopes his side can continue their momentum.

“Toulouse have a lot of big names and Jack Willis has been added to that list, so it’s huge, we’re excited,” he said.

“We’ve played them away before but it was during Covid, so it will be good to get a full French crowd out there.”

Ulster arrived in Salford sitting fourth in the United Rugby Championship table but struggled to deal with their hosts’ physicality on what turned into a long afternoon.

Their travel plans were thrown into disarray by cancelled flights and they had to fly over on the morning of the game, but Dan McFarland refused to use that as an excuse.

“We play in the URC, so that’s trains, planes and automobiles most weeks for us – we’re used to that kind of thing,” he said.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s certainly not something we’re going to worry about or use as an excuse for today.

“I wanted to see us play well and for us to show our game, but we weren’t able to do that.

“They offer a contrasting style with the amount they kick and the physicality they have with their runners. They have a real hard edge in their defence, which proved really hard for us to breakdown.

“We thought, with quick ball, our attack can break down most teams, but we couldn’t do that, which is obviously a shame.”