We must find another gear – Sanderson

■ By PAUL REES

PREVIEW…

Sale v Harlequins

Today. Kick-off 3pm, Salford Community Stadium

NO side accumulated more points than Sale after the break for the Six Nations last season, but Alex Sanderson says they will need to be better again to make the play-offs for the fourth time in five years.

The Sharks‘ late surge took them to third in the table, but they lost at Bath in the semi-final a year after being pipped by Saracens at Twickenham.

“It was a good end of the season and we want to take off from there, but the game has moved on and we have to be better again,” said Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby. “We changed our mindset in that block of matches in terms of attack having been too pragmatic.

“That will be our intent again, how can we get the ball into George Ford’s hands a bit more. We had a bit of a crisis last January having been top of the table over Christmas, not helped by a bad run of injuries.

“We challenged the players about what they were giving and had some honest feedback. They set up a senior group to talk to me about how we could make improvements to the programme and we gave them input from the coaches. It was collaborative based on a high degree of trust.

“The players have ownership and are ready for the accountability. It has been player led in the pre-season and the evidence of it will be best seen in adversity.

“They are a restless bunch and realise the opportunity they have as a group and what they can do this year. They do not want to waste it and I am excited to see the burgeoning group of young players we have, who are not junior any more, push on because if we get it right this year, they will take off.”

Sale start with Harlequins at home and having watched their pre-season matches, Sanderson detects a slight change in approach by a team renowned for having a go from anywhere and everywhere.

“They look a bit different to their stereotype,” he said. “They were not just backing themselves from anywhere, but earning the opportunities to attack. They are loaded with threats and are a very dangerous team, but they have developed a layer of decision-making where they do not overplay which could turn a good team into a really good one.

“I am interested as a fan of rugby to see what the Premiership throws up in the coming months. Last season was exciting, brilliant and brutal and I just loved the ride. There is invariably a surprise, like a team you did not see being up there.”

Sale lost centres Manu Tuilagi and Sam James in the close season, but new recruit Waisea Nayacalevu, Fiji’s captain, made an immediate impact in pre-season in the Sharks’ midfield.

“I miss Manu for many reasons,” said Sanderson. “Waisea brings something different: he can tank it but he has an outside break as well. Like Manu, he has a relaxed demeanour that can lighten the mood when things get too intense.

“He provides something different in attack, as he showed against Newcastle. Give him the ball and he is not looking for space in the back field but the chance to make an outside break or offload, freeing up his arms because he loves attacking rugby.”

Sanderson will be without exciting scrum-half Raffi Quirke for the first six weeks of the season after he broke a wrist for the second time in two years while former England second row Jonny Hill is fit but not yet available for selection as an alleged incident involving a home supporter at Bath at the end of last season’s play-off is being investigated by the police with an RFU disciplinary hearing pending.

Impact: Waisea Nayacalevu in action

PICTURES: Getty Images

“Jonny is available but I cannot discuss where he is at because it is too sensitive at the moment,” said Sanderson, “and I have a habit of putting my foot in it.”