Sale Sharks: Alex Sanderson's players want to run 'through brick walls for him'

Sale beat defending Premiership champions Leicester 21-13 in the semi-final

Alex Sanderson has instilled a culture at Sale Sharks that players "want to run through brick walls for him", says Premiership title winner with the club Andy Titterrell.

Sanderson took up the role as director of rugby at the Salford-based side in 2021, guiding Sale to a semi-final in his first few months in charge and now their first Premiership final since 2006.

The former club captain played for Sale from 1998-2004, making 90 appearances, and became known for his leadership qualities as a player.

And Titterrell, a team-mate of Sanderson at Sale and part of the side that beat Leicester Tigers to win the title 17 years ago, believes those qualities now run through the Sale side he has taken to within one game of their second domestic title.

"I had the pleasure of playing under Alex, he was my first captain at Sale. One thing Alex was is that he is very competitive," Titterrell told BBC Sport.

"He would run through brick walls as a player and I think what he has managed to build in himself and his coaching is that he will have a squad of players that want to run through brick walls for him.

"That is really important in terms of the fact he is a northern lad who knows the club and loves it. He is a competitor and a winner. That takes a lot to then drip feed that into the way you coach the players."

Sanderson is well acquainted with Saturday's opponents at Twickenham, Saracens, having won five Premiership titles with the club during a 13-year stint as an assistant coach to director of rugby Mark McCall.

The 43-year-old had joined the London club in 2004 as a player after leaving Sale but only made eight appearances and was forced into an early retirement because of a back injury.

"He was at Saracens for a long time coaching so will understand how McCall works and how the other coaches there work as well with how they play the game," added Titterrell.

"For him to step away from that and take the reins as a director of rugby at a club, which is his club that he grew up playing for, it probably adds more to it this weekend.

"I think it will be a great tussle on the field but also a good tactical match-up in terms of how they try and approach the game with what they go after and where they go after it.

"He has got great player-management skills and is a very likable guy. When you have a guy like that and the right leadership group around you - which he does - everything gels together."

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Taking inspiration from 2006

England World Cup winner Jason Robinson captained Sale to the 2006 Premiership title and retired from professional rugby the following year

Rugby union in the north of England has been starved of success since Jason Robinson lifted the Premiership trophy for Sale following an epic encounter against Leicester.

The 2003 World Cup winner was part of director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre's star-studded squad which included fellow France internationals Sebastien Bruno and Sebastien Chabal.

Hooker Titterrell played every game for Sale in the league that year and was joined in the front row by prop Stuart Turner, with both players starting the Twickenham showpiece.

"I am not sure we were the favourites at the start of the year," Turner recalled.

"The year before we had won the European Challenge Cup and we played well that year. So we strengthened again."

The former England international said early-season wins over Munster and Castre in the Heineken Cup gave Sale the momentum and confidence to take on the best sides in Europe and at home.

"We played really well and pretty much got to the top of the table and stayed there all season," added Turner.

Sale amassed 74 points, winning 16 of their 22 games in the regular campaign before defeating Wasps 22-12 in a tight semi-final encounter at Edgeley Park to set up a meeting with then six-time Premiership champions Leicester.

"We had a really good first scrum against a great Leicester pack," said Turner. "To start well helped set the tone.

"I remember the weather being bad as it was glorious weather all week, and then on cup final day it was chucking it down, which we didn't think would suit us as we had Charlie Hodgson and Mark Cueto.

"We thought we were a more expansive side than Leicester were, so bad weather would suit them more than it suited us."

Fly-half Hodgson kicked 23 points in a man-of-the-match performance as Sale won 45-20. Titterrell recalled Hodgson being "so relaxed" and could simply "kick anything".

"He was so dependable and when you have players like that in your side it really does gel when you have a good leader at 10," said Titterrell.

Stuart Turner [left] and Andy Titterrell [middle] are still close friends today

One of the biggest mental wins that day, however, occurred off the pitch in the pre-game preparation.

"Kingsley Jones [Sale head coach at the time] said to us a lot of the Leicester lads already have Premiership and European medals and we don't have any," said Titterrell. "For me that really stuck with me and I was really determined to go out and get one of those winners' medals.

"The whole squad wanted to do that as well in the way that we performed and we didn't play with any pressure. The forward pack dominated what was a very competitive Leicester pack."

Saturday's game draws parallels with the most famous day in Sale history, with Sarries - the dominant Premiership club of the past decade - this time coming up against the spirited northerners.

"It is fantastic and it was 17 years ago since I was there down at Twickenham," added Titterrell. "It is a different era, age and brand of rugby. So much has changed but the club doesn't change in terms of what it stands for and where it is."

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