Sale Sharks

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Sale Sharks
Sale sharks badge.png
Full name Sale Rugby Union Football Club
Founded 1861
Location Stockport, Greater Manchester, England
Ground(s) Edgeley Park (Capacity: 10,852)
Chairman Quentin Smith
Director of Rugby Steve Diamond
Coach(es) New Zealand Tony Hanks
Captain(s) New Zealand Sam Tuitupou
League(s) Aviva Premiership
2010–11 10th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.salesharks.com

Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club who play in England in the Aviva Premiership.

The club is an offshoot of Sale FC, which is based at Heywood Road in Sale, Greater Manchester, but Sharks currently play in Stockport at Edgeley Park, ground sharing with Stockport County F.C.

Part of the process of creating a rugby union team to represent the North West region has been in the development of a strong academy. Through their junior team The Jets (presumably named to go alongside The Sharks as a reference to West Side Story), the club has developed many talented home-grown players, including; Steve Hanley, Mark Cueto, Dean Schofield, Chris Jones, Andy Titterrell and Charlie Hodgson as well as taking on Jason Robinson when he changed codes after leaving Wigan Rugby League Club.

Contents

[edit] History

The club was founded in 1861 and is one of the oldest clubs in English rugby. Throughout their history they have been one of the leading rugby union clubs in the North of England. Sale moved into Heywood Road in 1905 and would remain there until 2003.[1]

Sale were unbeaten in 26 matches, winning 24 and drawing two in 1911.

Although Pat Davies is counted as Sale's first international, having been picked to play for England in 1927, it was G.A.M. Isherwood who was Sale's first representative in an international Test match,[2] when he played in all three tests of the 1910 British tour to South Africa at scrum-half.[3] The club has consistently provided international players and, during the 1930s, had one of its most dominant periods, fielding players of the calibre of Hal Sever (England), Claude Davey and Wilf Wooller (Wales) and Ken Fyfe (Scotland). It came as little surprise when they took out the 1936 Middlesex Sevens.

Sale ruled the roost in county cup rugby for 15 straight seasons as they went unbeaten from 1972 to 1987 in every one of those cup fixtures. During this period, Sale competed for the chance to be English club champions. In their first year, one after the inaugural competition kicked off in 1971, they made the semi-finals only to lose to eventual winners Coventry 35–6.

During the nineties, despite thrilling displays under Paul Turner, and his successor John Mitchell, both club and ground struggled to keep a grip on the demanding commercial and financial realities of running a professional rugby club.

Sale took 20,000 fans to Twickenham for the 1997 Pilkington Cup Final but Leicester won a mistake ridden match 9–3. This interest quickly faded and the anticipated increased crowds never materialised and relegation from the Premier Division loomed until rugby union-playing local businessman Brian Kennedy came to the rescue late in the 1999–2000 season. Since then, the club has been on a sound financial footing.

Off the field, Peter Deakin was recruited from Warrington Wolves rugby league as Chief Executive to employ the skills he had used with the Bradford Bulls and Saracens and he made an immediate impact in raising the club's profile until hit by the serious illness which claimed his life in February 2003.

Success was not immediate; Sale Sharks finished eleventh and tenth in the 12-strong Premiership table in the first two years of the new Millennium. It took the coaching partnership of two former Sale players, Jim Mallinder and Steve Diamond, to produce a team that were 2002 runners-up and qualified for the Heineken Cup.

Player signings matched the elevated profile of the club. Scotland skipper Bryan Redpath was joined by Stuart Pinkerton, Barry Stewart, Graeme Bond, Jason White and Andrew Sheridan. The club then turned to the wealth of talent, hitherto largely untapped, in Rugby League. Apollo Perelini, known as "The Terminator" for his uncomprimising style, joined Sale Sharks the day after helping St. Helens to victory in the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford and the media had a field day when Jason Robinson, possibly the most exciting wing in the world in either code, moved to Sale from Wigan Warriors.

In 2002 the team also went on to capture the Parker Pen Shield at Oxford's Kassam Stadium, defeating Pontypridd 25–22.

The latter Mallinder days saw the club at Twickenham again in 2004, losing narrowly to the Falcons in the Powergen Cup Final. In the summer of 2004 Jim Mallinder left Sale to take up a position in the RFU's National Academy. Following Mallinder's departure Sale appointed Phillipe Saint-André who had recently been turned down for the vacant position as coach of Wales. However with a new influx of players including french internationals Sébastien Bruno and Sébastien Chabal helped Saint-André and Sale Win the 2005 European Challenge Cup again at Oxford, this time 27-3 against Pau, for the second time in three years.

[edit] 2005-2006 season Premiership Champions

The 2005 season saw even more players join Sale, and following the success of the previous season led to the club's highlight: the 2006 Guinness Premiership title, gained with a 45-20 win against Leicester Tigers.

[edit] 2006–2007 season

After the success of the 2005/06 season many at the club had hoped for a repeat and with a strong squad boosted by several quality players including England Saxons centre Chris Bell, Former Wales prop Ben Evans and Argentina flanker Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe it seemed likely. However over the autumn months an injury crisis began with the loss of Scotland capain Jason White to a knee injury whilst playing against Romania. More bad news followed with England fly half Charlie Hodgson and England prop Andrew Sheridan falling to knee and ankle injuries respectively. More and more injuries were picked up over the following months until Sale were left with only 17 of a 38 man squad fit to play in their final Heineken cup match against the Ospreys. (Source: Sale sharks website)

[edit] 2007–2008 season

In 2007-8, it was World Cup year so the club was without some of out big names e.g. Jason White, Andrew Sheridan, Sebastien Chabal etc. They still had Charlie Hodgson who wasn't picked for England . Sale appointed James Jennings as the new Chief Executive and Dean Schofield as the new captain. Sale had signed some good players including Rory Lamont, Brent Cockbain, Rudi Keil, Julien Laharrague and Scott Lawson but the biggest signing had to be Luke McAlister from the Blues in New Zealand. Signing him was said to be one of the biggest signings Sale had ever made. The season was up and down in parts though. The up parts were; seeing Ben Foden progress at full back to become a superb player, beating Leicester Tigers home and away was a first plus seeing Richard Wigglesworth play for England for the first time was a plus. The academy players also became an integral part to the squad (Neil Briggs, Sean Cox, Will Cliff). However, the low points were not qualifying for the semi finals in the Premiership or win a trophy as they were targets at the beginning of the season. Overall it was a mixed season. (Source: Sale sharks website)

At the end of the season, several players left the club: Ben Foden, Chris Mayor and Ignacio Fernández Lobbe all signed for Northampton Saints, where they were joined by Christian Day. Sililo Martens joined Llanelli Scarlets while Magnus Lund, Julien Laharrague and Ben Evans joined teams in France.

[edit] 2008–2009 season

During the closed season the retirement through injury of Steve Hanley was announced. On 19 August 2008, Juan Fernández Lobbe was announced as the captain for the new season, replacing Jason White who was still recovering from a serious knee injury last season. Sebastien Chabal and Dean Schofield were announced as vice-captains.

A new Premiership record of 4 games without leaking a try was set at the start of the season, these games were Newcastle (A), Saracens (H), Bristol (A) and Gloucester (H).

On 4 December 2008 the Board of Sale Sharks announced that Philippe Saint Andre would step down from his position as Director of Rugby at the end of the 2008/2009 season. Kingsley Jones, the current Head Coach was promoted to Director of Rugby at the end of the 2008/9 season, assuming overall responsibility for all rugby operations at the Club. Former Sale winger Jason Robinson took over as Head Coach from the start of the 2009/2010 season.

Sale Sharks were knocked out of the European Cup in the group stages. Despite Sale earning a bonus point win over Clermont in France in the first round, a defeat at home to Munster, a defeat to Montauban and Munster beating The Sharks in Ireland led to a disappointing exit.

Charlie Hodgson was voted the player of the year at the club's end-of-season awards on Thursday 30 April 2009.

[edit] 2009–2010 season

It was announced in February 2009 that the new coaching team for the 2009/10 season will be led by the new Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones, the new Head Coach Jason Robinson assisted by Phil Keith-Roach (forwards coach) and Byron Hayward (Kicking Coach).[4]

It was announced on 18 March 2009 that Sale Sharks had signed Ben Cohen. The former England Winger signs from French outfit Brive.

Dean Schofield has once more received the captaincy, this time for season 2009–2010 season.

It was announced in February 2010 that Sale had signed Welsh international Dafydd James until the end of the season to provide cover for all the injured players.

Sale had a disappointing season, finishing 11th in the Premiership and only securing safety from relegation on the penultimate weekend of the season.

Sale's Heineken cup campaign also ended in disappointment, although they did challenge the group favourites Toulouse and the Cardiff Blues. The highlights of the campaign were a stunning 27–26, win at home to Cardiff and wins home and away against Harlequins.

Towards the end of the season, there were changes made in the coaching staff with Jason Robinson and Phil Keith-Roach leaving the club and Mike Brewer coming in to be Head Coach with Kingsley Jones still being Director of Rugby.

[edit] Current standings

English Premiership Table watch · edit · discuss
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Tries For Tries Against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Harlequins 13 11 0 2 320 219 +101 34 19 3 0 47
2 Saracens 13 10 1 2 278 208 +70 21 18 1 1 44
3 Northampton Saints 13 8 0 5 310 204 +106 30 17 2 2 36
4 Leicester Tigers 13 7 1 5 348 317 +31 35 33 3 3 36
5 London Irish 13 6 1 6 306 298 +8 25 24 2 5 33
6 Exeter Chiefs 13 6 0 7 242 252 +10 19 23 1 6 31
7 Sale Sharks 13 6 0 7 285 312 -27 26 29 1 5 30
8 Gloucester Rugby 13 5 1 7 275 254 +21 26 22 1 6 29
9 Worcester Warriors 13 5 1 7 175 220 -45 11 20 0 3 25
10 Bath Rugby 13 5 0 8 235 252 -17 19 16 0 4 24
11 London Wasps 13 4 0 9 202 286 -84 20 21 1 4 21
12 Newcastle Falcons 13 2 1 10 207 361 -154 15 39 0 2 12

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places, and receive berths in the 2012–13 Heineken Cup. Blue background (rows 5 and 6) are clubs that do not make the play-offs, but will receive Heineken Cup berths. Red background (row 12) to be relegated if the champion of the RFU Championship meets the requirements for promotion. Updated 09 October 2011 — Current English Leagues

source:Premiership Rugby

Notes:

[edit] Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.

Player Position Union
Marc Jones Hooker Wales Wales
Joe Ward Hooker England England
Tony Buckley Prop Ireland Ireland
Vadim Cobîlaş Prop Moldova Moldova
Alasdair Dickinson Prop Scotland Scotland
Lee Imiolek Prop England England
Andrew Sheridan Prop England England
Henry Thomas Prop England England
Wame Lewaravu Lock Fiji Fiji
Fraser McKenzie Lock Scotland Scotland
Kearnan Myall Lock England England
Andrei Ostrikov Lock Russia Russia
Onosa'i Auva'a Flanker New Zealand New Zealand
Mark Easter Flanker England England
Hendre Fourie Flanker England England
James Gaskell Flanker England England
David Seymour Flanker England England
Andy Powell Number 8 Wales Wales
Richie Vernon Number 8 Scotland Scotland
Player Position Union
Will Cliff Scrum-half England England
Scott Mathie Scrum-half South Africa South Africa
Dwayne Peel Scrum-half Wales Wales
Cillian Willis Scrum-half Ireland Ireland
Tasesa Lavea Fly-half Samoa Samoa
Rob Miller Fly-half England England
Luther Burrell Centre England England
Andrew Higgins Centre England England
Johnny Leota Centre Samoa Samoa
Iain Thornley Centre England England
Sam Tuitupou (c) Centre New Zealand New Zealand
Will Addison Wing England England
Charlie Amesbury Wing England England
Tom Brady Wing England England
Mark Cueto Wing England England
Nick Macleod Fullback Wales Wales
Joaquín Tuculet Fullback Argentina Argentina

[edit] Current England Elite squad

[edit] Current England Saxons squad

[edit] Internationally Capped players

[edit] Transfers 2011–12

[edit] Players In

[edit] Players Out

[edit] Notable former players

       

[edit] Club honours

[edit] Sponsorship

Sale Sharks signed a three year deal with Manchester business UKFast, the deal is for in excess of £2m.[40] UKFast started sponsoring the club in 1999, at the same time they changed their name from Sale to Sale Sharks. Lawrence Jones (businessman) a keen supporter of the club and managing director of UKFast announced a sponsorship deal in March 2009 which saw the end to the previous sponsor McAfee's 4 years with the club.

Headline Shirt Sponsor UKFast:[41] [42]

Full list of all sponsors of Sale Sharks: [43]:

Other sponsors include: Printerland, Cotton Traders, JobWorthDoing, Greene King IPA

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sale FC Rugby Club. "History of Sale FC". Sale FC. http://www.salefc.com/index.php/club/a_brief_history_of_sale_fc. Retrieved 2011-10-20. 
  2. ^ W. W. Wakefield, H. P. Marshall, Rugger – The History, Theory and Practice of Rugby Football, 1928, page 361
  3. ^ Despite playing for the British team, Isherwood was never selected for England.
  4. ^ "Robinson named as Sale head coach". BBC News. 25 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/7910391.stm. 
  5. ^ "Argentine full-back joins Sale". Planet Rugby. 10 August 2011. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3823_7091621,00.html. 
  6. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Newcastle winger Charlie Amesbury". BBC Sport. 30 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/12904506.stm. 
  7. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Luther Burrell from Leeds Carnegie". BBC Sport. 28 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13221101.stm. 
  8. ^ "Sale to sign forwards Mark Easter and Kris Chesney". BBC Sport. 8 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9417952.stm. 
  9. ^ "Sale sign England flanker Hendre Fourie from Leeds". BBC Sport. 27 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13572274.stm. 
  10. ^ "Sale bring in Higgins". Planet Rugby. 2 September 2011. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_7143505,00.html. 
  11. ^ "Kearnan Myall agrees Sale Sharks switch from Leeds". BBC Sport. 2 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9411362.stm. 
  12. ^ "Sale Sharks to sign London Wasps hooker Joe Ward". BBC Sport. 25 February 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9407244.stm. 
  13. ^ "Munster prop Tony Buckley to join Sale Sharks". BBC Sport. 16 February 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/munster/9399038.stm. 
  14. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Munster centre Sam Tuitupou". BBC Sport. 11 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/mobile/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9453933.stm. 
  15. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Russia forward Andrei Ostrikov". BBC Sport. 9 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13332236.stm. 
  16. ^ "Sale Sharks sign fly-half Tasesa Lavea from Clermont". BBC Sport. 9 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9419735.stm. 
  17. ^ "Sale Sharks sign fly-half Tasesa Lavea from Clermont". BBC Sport. 9 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9419735.stm. 
  18. ^ a b "Alasdair Dickinson joins Sale Sharks from Gloucester". BBC Sport. 18 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9489690.stm. 
  19. ^ "Sale Sharks sign Edinburgh lock Fraser McKenzie". BBC Sport. 14 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13079168.stm. 
  20. ^ "Richie Vernon signs two-year Sale deal from Glasgow". BBC Sport. 15 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9425181.stm. 
  21. ^ "Sharks snap up Mathie". Sky Sports. 11 May 2011. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12548_6926450,00.html. 
  22. ^ "Wales back-row Andy Powell signs for Sale Sharks". BBC Sport. 12 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13369345.stm. 
  23. ^ "London Wasps swoop for Sale Sharks centre Chris Bell". BBC News. 4 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/12648351.stm. 
  24. ^ "Erinle recalled for Sevens". Sky Sports. 2011-07-06. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,21616_7022321,00.html. 
  25. ^ "Ben Cohen retires from professional rugby". BBC Sport. 15 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13404894.stm. 
  26. ^ a b "Edinburgh sign up duo from Sale Sharks". BBC Sport. 27 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13573222.stm. 
  27. ^ a b c d e f g "Sale Sharks confirm the departure of 21 players". BBC News. 9 May 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9480753.stm. 
  28. ^ "Bath sign Sale's Carl Fearns and Wasps' Charlie Beech". BBC News. 8 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/bath/9417906.stm. 
  29. ^ "Worcester Warriors sign Chris Jones from Sale Sharks". BBC News. 17 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/9428338.stm. 
  30. ^ "Charlie Hodgson to leave Sale Sharks for Saracens". BBC News. 10 January 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/saracens/9352005.stm. 
  31. ^ "Wasps confirm Mayor signing". Planet Rugby. 17 May 2011. http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_6937224,00.html. 
  32. ^ "Nic Rouse returns to Nottingham Rugby on two-year deal". BBC News. 14 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/13079258.stm. 
  33. ^ "Mathew Tait completes Leicester Tigers switch". BBC Sport. 14 July 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/14150991.stm. 
  34. ^ "Nadro names top team". Fiji Times. 22 July 2011. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=175790. 
  35. ^ (French) "Lyon: Deux recrues". RugbyRama. 26 May 2011. http://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/top-14/2010-2011/lyon-deux-recrues_sto2807990/flashnews.shtml. 
  36. ^ (Italian) "WIHONGI TORNA IN FRANCIA". Rugby Mercato. 4 May 2011. http://www.rugbymercato.it/2011/05/04/wihongi-torna-in-francia/. 
  37. ^ "Sale Sharks release Samoan centre Andy Tuilagi". BBC Sport. 13 June 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/sale/9511587.stm. 
  38. ^ "Haskell leaves Stade". worldcupweb.com. 7 June 2011. http://www.worldcupweb.com/rugby/news/viewarticle.asp?id=30665. 
  39. ^ "Welsh prop Eifion Lewis-Roberts joins Toulon from Sale". BBC News. 27 February 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/9408910.stm. 
  40. ^ "Sale enjoy life in the UKFast lane". Manchester Evening News. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/rugby_union/s/1115842_sale_enjoy_life_in_ukfast_lane. 
  41. ^ http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-digital-media/ukfast-invests-seven-figures-in-sale-sharks-sponsorship-200905185402/
  42. ^ http://www.ukfast.co.uk/sale-sharks-press-area.html
  43. ^ http://www.salesharks.com/sponsors

[edit] External links

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