Feb 07 International Break Part 1

I’m not the one and only!

I’d fully expected the two week Premiership rest window to be quiet and uneventful this year: a peaceful and gentle lull in an eventful season, where players, other than our Internationals, got a chance to put their feet up and recover from the ludicrous fixture congestion thrust upon them by the lords and masters at the RFU. Had these same people not decreed that we play three games in two weeks, perhaps it wouldn’t have been necessary. Still, that’s another argument.

Yet, it’s been anything but quiet and uneventful. First the news broke that we were to lose our Chief Executive at the end of the season and then a succession of our players made the back pages after outstanding International displays. It seems you can’t keep Sale Sharks out of the news these days!

Niels de Vos will leave the Sharks in May this year, after five years in charge. It may have come as a ‘shock’ to some, but many, myself included, believed the writing was on the wall as soon as his name began to be linked with UK Athletics. I’m sure everyone both within the Club and outside wishes him the very best when he takes up his new position. He’s been at the helm in building the Club and the business. He took us from being a small club in Cheshire to Premiership Champions, and I’m sure we all thank him.

If he can do for UK Athletics what he’s done for Sale then perhaps some of our Olympic expectations might yet be fulfilled. Let’s all hope that the new Chief Executive carries on Niels’ good work and continues to work with the supporters to carry the Club onwards and upwards.

Back on the rugby field, the Six Nations kicked off in style with the return of the ‘anointed one’, Jonny Wilkinson. There has always been a love affair between the Twickenham faithful and Jonny and Saturday’s performance will have done nothing to diminish his God-like status, though personally I thought Harry Ellis should’ve taken the Man of the Match award.

To give Jonny his due, he produced as fine a fly half performance as I’ve seen since our own injured stand-off took Leicester Tigers apart in the Premiership final. Would that Charlie could be part of an England team where players were played in their natural positions, or that Charlie and Jonny could play on the same team?

Jason Robinson, our own Billy Whizz, produced an excellent performance in his international comeback, scoring two tries and demonstrating to all that he’s not lost the skill and the trickery that made him so dangerous. Many commentators have always believed that his best position is on the wing and that his talents are wasted at full back. Yesterday’s performance would tend to reinforce that opinion.

Magnus Lund was played in his proper role at openside for the first time in his short England career. He played excellently throughout the game, turning over ball, hunting down the opposition and scoring a lovely overlap try in the closing stages. He looked every inch the finished article and achieved all this without constantly giving away penalties like Lewis Moody. I’m sure he’ll have a long and illustrious international career.

England may have their chosen one, but so do Sale Sharks and France. Sebastien Chabal, our own bearded warrior who bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain son of Nazareth, put in a towering performance as France comfortably beat Italy at the Stadio Flaminio. Bernard Laporte has been reluctant to play Seabass in his preferred position at number 8, often overlooking him in favour of Immanuel Harinordoquy.

But after Chabal’s blazing showing in the Heineken Cup against Stade Francais, the French coach eventually saw what has been blindingly obvious to most of us for a long time. Seabass is an awesome player. His display on Saturday rightly won him the RBS Man of the Match award. The only blight on the horizon was the sight of him limping off with ten minutes remaining. Hopefully the damage isn’t too great and he’ll be fit to play again soon.

They weren’t the only Sharks to make the England headlines this week either. Dean Schofield, our aggressive and combative lock, scored a try in a gritty England ‘Saxons’ win against Italy on Friday, and David Tait, our young versatile back row forward, scored two tries in the England under 20s, 35 points to 5 victory over Scotland.

It’s often said that no news is good news. By and large that’s true, but sometimes, some news can also be good news. In a season that’s been beset by bad news, it’s nice to have something to smile about. Let’s hope that the trend continues and that we’re still smiling at the end of the Six Nations when our players return uninjured and fit. So, enjoy it while you can but remember to keep your fingers crossed.