Bath Rugby are even stronger this season than they were in their 2024-25 treble-winning campaign, according to Sale Sharks’ director of rugby Alex Sanderson.
Bath Rugby will reap the benefits of signing Henry Arundell and Santi Carreras, according to Sale Sharks’ director of rugby Alex Sanderson | Photo © Richard Briggs
The former England back row looked deflated during his press conference after his side were beaten by the Blue, Black & White in Gallagher PREM Round 2 on Friday 3rd October.
Sale, who overcame Gloucester Rugby in their opener, defended magnificently in dreadful weather conditions at The Rec – and the match was in the balance until Max Ojomoh touched down late on and Ben Spencer converted to ensure a 28-16 home victory.
However, the Sharks let themselves down with indiscipline, including two instances of head-on-head contact by WillGriff John, the second seeing him yellow-carded.
Sanderson said: “We lost four or five line-outs on our own ball and I felt like we could compete a little bit better on theirs. When we did get up we got some good change on that.
“But days like today, good discipline, obviously physicality on the game line’s all important and they lead into your set-piece. That set-piece was for the most part dominant. The scrums look good, the mauls look good but you’ve still got to win the ball before you can maul – and we didn’t.
“We weren’t consistent enough. Small things that frustrate us massively. It just shows that against the best teams, banging people isn’t enough. It’s got to be more than that.
“They’re a championship-winning team, and that’s without some of the British [& Irish] Lions, so they’re only going to get better.
“But for all the time that we repelled them tonight, I thought maybe this could be one of those times where it just kind of goes your way, you’ll come away with a point and Reedy [Arron Reed] gets onto that ball and there’s no one quicker than him. It’s little things like that.
“We’re down there. We get down there and we let them out.
“One penalty gets us back in their 22, and then the scrum at the end, the counter hook, that’s another one that just lets them out.
“We’re up with the scrums on top, so these are all missed opportunities for ill discipline.
“It’s like some of those kind of nights, a bounce of the ball.
“Some of the things at this level, you’ve just got to get right. You’ve got to win your own ball.
“But on the back of a bonus-point win for them and nothing for us, there’s some small consolations in it on a wet night at The Rec.
“We had a team there that could’ve done something tonight. You have to back yourselves and the lads did as well – they’re very frustrated. We need to learn the lessons tonight, we need to learn them this week.
“We knew it was going to be an 80-minute game and on the back of that they score more tries in the third and fourth quarters than any other team.
“So we had to push them and we did lovely for 75 minutes.
“They’re stronger again probably this year with [Henry] Arundell and [Santi] Carreras.
“I see them having the ability or at least taking teams right to the death as they did Quins last week [Bath came from 12-0 down to thump hosts Harlequins 47-31 in Round 1].
“We want to be competing and push them again, semi-finals or finals this year. I know we’re not a million miles off, that’s the frustrating thing. The big rocks are there. It’s the small things that make the difference on nights like tonight.”
