Alex Sanderson says Sale can build on the positives from Champions Cup defeat to Leinster

Despite suffering a 37-27 Champions Cup loss to Leinster at the RDS Arena on Saturday, Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson feels his side can take plenty of positives from the result.

After starting their campaign with a win over Stade Francais last week, Sanderson made 11 changes to his his run-on side and they did well during the opening exchanges and held a 13-3 lead after Connor Doherty’s converted try in the 24th minute.

However, Leinster came back strongly and dominated proceedings. The Irish province eventually outscored Sale by five tries to three with Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Ryan Baird and Cian Healy dotting down.

Their other points came via two conversions and as many penalties from Ciaran Frawley and a two-pointer off the kicking tee from Sam Prendergast as well.

For Sale Sharks, Tommy Taylor and replacement Tom Curtis also crossed the whitewash while Rob du Preez finished with a 12-point haul after slotting two penalties and three conversions.

Although they were on the wrong side of the end result, Sanderson was happy with his side’s depth ahead of their upcoming Premiership clash with Saracens.

Full of pride

“Proud of them. Proud of how they went at Leinster, despite the doubters,” he said. “Really attacked them. I thought we rattled them in that first half.

“We conceded that try (at the start of the second half) and let them back in. We gave them too much possession in the second half, too much territory, and a 1000-cap international side, which they are, are going to score points.

“We came back again and that shows the resilience of the group. In professional sport a lot of it is about the winning and the losing, but I still feel that we can maintain energy and momentum from that and take it back into the Premiership.”

Meanwhile, Leinster boss Leo Cullen is happy with his side’s current form as they are sitting pretty at the top of both their Champions Cup pool and the United Rugby Championship standings.

Despite the Irish province not hitting their straps of late, Cullen said: “(At half-time) it was just about trying to stay composed and not get frustrated.

“We know Sale have a strong kicking game and are very aggressive around the contact area. You can see the energy that they get from the sideline, that’s part of their DNA.

“I thought we started the second half with a hell of a lot better intent, dealt with some of their threats a lot better.

“Got in for some good tries. Disappointed with the way the last sequence of events went, obviously we lose Charlie Ngatai to injury and had already unloaded the bench at that stage.

“Hugo (Keenan) gets binned so we’re down to 13 players. It was a bit scratchy at times for sure, but we’re pleased to get a win in front of a full house.”

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