'He is a different person' - Sanderson calls on Eddie Jones to end Yarde's four year England exile

Sale boss Alex Sanderson believes wing Marland Yarde is “playing the rugby of his life” and deserves to end a four-year exile from the England team to boost the attacking threats Eddie Jones could unleash on the Six Nations.

Head coach Jones is under pressure after the 11-6 loss to Scotland which exposed the paucity of attacking play from his back division and Yarde has been delivering eye-catching performance and tries for Sale in the Premiership having battled back from a horrendous knee injury in 2018.

Sanderson pinpoints Yarde’s changes to his life off the pitch as being key to helping the wing regain his best form. While Sanderson, the newly appointed Sale director of rugby, expects Jones to avoid major changes heading into Saturday’s clash with Italy, he is confident that Yarde would make a real impact if given a chance to add to the 13 caps he has already won.

Yarde, 28, last played for England in Argentina in 2017 and is preparing to help third place Sale take on struggling Bath at home on Friday night and Sanderson said: “Marland is playing the rugby of his life at the moment and I would like think the powers to be, if they are watching the games, will see that as well. The injury was a big turning point and he has changed a lot of his approach to life with a lot of charity work with us and is a great example to young players who could and would have gone down some of the paths he had gone down that led to him not having potentially the best reputation during the first part of his career.

“He is a different person for me and I have sat down with him and talked about extending his contract because of how he is training and living his life away from rugby. As a result he is playing some of the best rugby of his life and it is all inter-linked and he is the best example of that at this club. Marland has two years left on his contract and we are talking about a third which we have agreed on and is his choice.

“I thought England would go better and you have to give credit to Scotland who made it an arm wrestle. Without a shadow of doubt England will be better in their second game and knowing the boys in the team they will be.”