"We'll be back" - Sale Sharks sign four to strengthen squad
Rugby NewsWednesday, 31 May 2023 at 13:59
Alex Sanderson firmly believes that this is only the beginning for Sale Sharks, despite a heart-wrenching loss in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final.
With just 12 minutes remaining, the Sharks held a narrow 25-23 lead against Saracens, fueled by the momentum gained from the outstanding tries scored by Tom Roebuck and Bevan Rodd, which turned the match in their favor.
But Elliot Daly and Ivan van Zyl crossed for a try each to steer Saracens to a sixth Gallagher Premiership Rugby title, and ensure Sale’s first showpiece in 17 years ended in disappointment.
“I’ve got the feeling we will be here again,” he said.
“The odd fairytale does happen but rarely in my experience. You’ve got to be better at handling moments like the ones that occurred today. That takes experience and that’s what we got today and what we will build on next season.
“We will just get better. We are a young side for the most part. A young demographic who have found their feet in the big games. I’m sure after the crushing feeling I have right now of a missed opportunity, the underlying emotion would be pride.”
Sale have looked streamline their squad with a number of high quality signings.
Meanwhile, club legends Will Cliff and Jono Ross alongside Scotland internationals Byron McGuigan and Ewan Ashman earlier this season, a further eight players will leave the Sharks at the end of the club’s most successful season in over 15 years.
SALE SHARKS NEW SIGNINGS:
#1. Sam Bedlow from Bristol Bears
Bedlow came through the Sharks academy and played ten first team games before joining Bristol Bears
The 27-year-old centre, who played ten first team games for Sharks in his first spell at the club, has signed a long-term contract to join younger brother Joe in Alex Sanderson’s squad.
Boyhood Sale fan Sam originally joined Sharks as a 17-year-old after leaving Myerscough College.
He progressed through the club’s academy programme and after a loan spell at Fylde, made his debut in a Challenge Cup fixture at Welsh side the Dragons.
He joined Bristol Bears in 2017, signed his first senior contract two years later and has since gone on to make more than 60 appearances for Pat Lam’s team.
Sam said: “I’m so excited to be coming back up north to be close to my family and to play for the club I supported and watched as a kid.
“The club has changed a lot since I was here before but I know so many of the coaches and some of the players too. I’ve heard really great things about Alex and it’s obviously a club that’s on the way up.
“It’ll be brilliant to be playing with my brother Joe too. I know when I was coming through the academy I looked up to the senior players as role models. Hopefully I can do that for Joe and some of the other fantastic young players at the club too.
“I’m fully focused on ending the season well with Bristol, but I can’t wait to get started at Sale.”
Sharks Director of Rugby Alex said: “Sam left here as a highly-rated young player but he’s coming back as someone who we believe has increased his skillset, matured and become one of the top performing centres in the Premiership.
“He’s a big guy but he can play 10, 12 or 13 and he’s a real triple threat – he can run, kick and pass. He’s a great lad and a fantastic communicator and he’s only 27. I really think the best is yet to come from him.
“His family is up here and his brother is at the club and he’s coming back here for all the right reasons. He can see where the club is going and he knows it’s a club where good, northern players know they can progress their careers and be a part of building something special.
“This is right for him for all the right reasons, and it’s right for us for all the right reasons.”
#2. Ernst van Rhyn from Stormers
The 25-year-old, who can play in the second-row or back-row, has signed a three-year deal and will join Alex Sanderson’s squad ahead of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup season.
Ernst, who stands at 6’3” and weighs more than 18 stone, plays for the Cape Town-based Stormers and Western Province.
He made his 50th appearance for the Stormers against Harlequins in the Heineken Champions Cup in April and featured against Exeter Chiefs in the last eight.
Ernst was a former teammate of Sharks star Cobus Wiese at both domestic and international level, with the pair teaming up for South Africa’s U20s side at the 2016 World Cup in England.
Ernst said: “I’m really excited about this move. Sale have a quality team full of world class players and I can’t wait to play with guys like the Curry and du Preez brothers. I really feel like we can achieve great things together in the years ahead.
“I spoke to Cobus before making my decision and the fact that there will be familiar faces and familiar voices at the club was definitely a factor.
“But more importantly, at this stage of my career, I felt like I really wanted to try a new environment and a new culture to grow as a rugby player but also as a person. I really want to keep pushing and challenging myself and the environment at Sale is the perfect place to do that.
“I chatted to Alex on the phone and it was clear that his philosophies match mine. It’s about rugby but I know that Sale is a club where they care about the individual too. My fiancé and I can’t wait to get over there and get started.”
Sharks Director of Rugby Alex said: “We have a good track record of recruiting really good, young, aggressive, physical South African back five players and I’m confident we’ve got another one here in Ernst.
“He’s a really good player, but more importantly, he’s a really good character. He’s captain material and he’s been a leader in every team he’s played in and that’s testament to the kind of person he is.
“He lived with Cobus Wiese and I think they are forged from the same South African steel. They’re hard-working, tough and young enough to keep on improving.
“He is joining us at a really good point in our growth as a squad, and I think we’re getting him at the same stage in his development.”
#3. Telusa Veainu from Stade Francais
Sale Sharks have signed experienced Tonga international full-back Veainu on a one-year-deal ahead of the 23/24 Gallagher Premiership season.
The versatile 32-year-old, who represented the All Blacks at U20s level and played domestic rugby in Australia, has experience of the Premiership having spent five stellar seasons at Leicester Tigers.
During his spell at Welford Road he scored 32 tries in 79 appearances before joining French Top 14 side Stade Francais in 2020.
Now he’ll join up with Alex Sanderson’s squad for pre-season ahead of the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership season.
Telusa said: “I’m absolutely buzzing and I can’t wait to come over to Manchester and get started. My wife is English so we have wanted to move back and this is the perfect opportunity.
“Manu Tuilagi is one of my closest friends and every time I speak to him, he talks so passionately about the environment at Sale as well as the players and the coaches too.
“When I watch him play I can tell he loves it there – he’s even doing ice baths! That means a lot to me and it tells me that it’s a really good club full of good people.
“The squad is full of really exciting, young back three players who have been carving it up all season, and I can’t wait to work with them to help their development but also feed off their energy.
“I played with Manu and George Ford at Leicester and I can’t wait to be on the same pitch as them both again.”
Sharks Director of Rugby Alex said: “Telusa was one of the best players in the Premiership while he was at Leicester so we know we’re getting a really good player.
“But more than that, we know we’re getting a brilliant human too, who will make a massive contribution off the pitch and help this young group develop.”
#4. Lukę Cowan-Dickie from Exeter Chiefs
The England hooker has reportedly decided to turn down an enticing opportunity to play in France and instead join one of Exeter Chiefs' direct rivals in the Premiership.
Contrary to previous reports in The Rugby Paper linking the hooker with a move to Stade Francais, the Mail Online reveals that he will be joining Sale Sharks.
The addition of another British and Irish Lion to Sale Sharks' pack would be a significant boost for the team, especially after their loss in the Premiership finals, where a malfunctioning lineout played a part in their defeat against Saracens.
If the deal comes to fruition, it would also be a welcome development for national coach Steve Borthwick, as Cowan-Dickie's eligibility for Test selection after this year's World Cup would be secured.
According to the latest report, Cowan-Dickie is currently experiencing a slow and frustrating recovery from neck surgery.
Nonetheless, he has already completed one medical examination at Sale Sharks, and if he successfully completes a second one, he will join Jonny Hill and Tom O'Flaherty in making the move from Exeter to the Sharks.
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