It is supposed to be a snarling northern “derby” but, in reality, Sale’s Friday night date with Newcastle is a case of friends reunited. The Sharks’ Alex Sanderson and the Falcons’ Steve Diamond take their respective eight-year-olds to the same swimming class every week and have been mates for so long they know pretty much exactly what the other is plotting.
Sanderson, in particular, has been warning his squad they will need to be up for the fight against their bottom placed, winless opponents: “They’re already talking survival, food on plates and roofs over heads; we’ve got to match their emotional levels.” Diamond, for his part, has been busy stripping down his side’s tactics to the barest essentials to counter Sale’s big pack and territory based game. “We’re not even competitive at the moment,” he says. “There’s still players here who don’t understand what we’re trying to do on game day.”
Both men are equally aware, though, of the wider picture surrounding the fixture. There is no Premier League football this weekend and, alongside the Super League grand final involving Wigan and Hull KR at Old Trafford, the oval ball has a precious window in which to seize the imagination of a youthful northern audience.
Diamond, who spent many years at Sale as a player and coach, is not naive enough to imagine that Mancunians are suddenly going to abandon City and United en masse. He is keenly aware, though, that if rugby union in the north cannot attract new fans the future could look increasingly grim. “Rugby in the north is important to England and I know Bill Sweeney and Conor O’Shea at the RFU appreciate that. Look at any game on a Friday or Saturday and the demographic of people watching it … they’re mostly aged 50 plus. It’s about how we can make the game more attractive to people to watch and play it.”
Newcastle, who welcome back their electric wing Adam Radwan, also need a performance to convince people – not least themselves – there is some light at the end of a horribly dark tunnel. They have lost their past 24 Premiership games and, as Diamond freely admits, the heavy home defeat by Leicester last Saturday was a painful experience. “It looked like Leicester hadn’t had a coach for a week and we hadn’t had one for six weeks. We thought we could play a certain way and got exposed massively. We’ve got to improve dramatically on last week and be competitive … that’s all I’m asking of them at the moment.”
The necessity for his players to recover physically from the Tigers game, however, has ruled out any possibility of going even harder in training this week. “For 48 hours it was like a scene from 1970s Vietnam. We had more people on the beds than we had walking. The days of pulling them in have gone.” Instead, Diamond has sought to simplify the gameplan in a bid to rebuild some collective confidence. “One of the crucial things you need is belief. We need some really competitive games for the belief to start eking through.
Wasps, London Irish and Worcester have now each applied for a place in next season's expanded Championship ahead of Sunday's deadline for expressions of interest.
It raises the prospect of the trio of 'phoenix clubs' eventually returning to the Premiership, which has reintroduced promotion and relegation, after entering administration in the 2022-23 campaign.
Wasps are looking to re-establish themselves in Kent or Greater London having left High Wycombe for Coventry in 2014.
"It has been a challenging two years for Wasps, during which time we have worked tirelessly to rebuild a great club," said Wasps owner Christopher Holland in a statement released on Thursday. "From securing key assets to laying the groundwork for a sustainable future, our efforts have always been focused on returning Wasps to a league that shares our values and to be able to compete at the highest level. Submitting our expression of interest for Tier 2 is a key milestone in our recovery."
London Irish remain in administration but their preferred bidder, Hokulani Ltd, confirmed on Wednesday that entry into the revamped Championship is being sought.
"We have officially submitted an expression of interest to the Rugby Football Union to join London Irish in the tier two league," said Daniel Thomas Loitz, the director and principle director of Hokulani Ltd. "This is a major step in our journey to restore the club to the top level after 12 months of painful suspension."
Worcester, who are also owned by Holland, confirmed on 1 October that they had begun the application process.
All teams hoping to play in the 2024-25 Championship, which is being enlarged by two to a 14-side league, must prove their financial viability, including the funds to pay off rugby creditors, as well as meet minimum operating standards. PA Media
“It’s been embarrassing to go into the shop for a paper on a Sunday morning but you’ve got to be man enough to do that and get on with it. We’re just stripping everything back. We had 17 options of what to do; now we’ve got five. People will say ‘That’s the Steve Diamond mentality.’ They’re right, it is. Because we’ll be competitive doing that. We don’t have to do a great deal to be better than we were last week. Is this the most difficult challenge I’ve had? I think it’s up there and only a fool would say it wouldn’t be. But I don’t think it’s a challenge we can’t conquer.”
He concedes, nevertheless, that it will take “at least five years” to replicate the conveyor belt of local talent fuelling the Sharks’ steady improvement. Sanderson is rightly proud that 19 of his matchday 23 against Gloucester last week came through Sale’s academy and is equally thrilled to have the fit-again Curry twins and Du Preez brothers back available. Ben Bamber and Sam Dugdale, both local products, also continue to catch the eye.
Sanderson, who celebrated his 45th birthday this week with a curry, half a bottle of Malbec and a giant cookie baked by his young son, certainly does not want Diamond ruining his Friday night. “We do like each other but we really want to beat each other as well. Realistically ticket sales and sponsorship come down to us winning. Neutral fans support trophy winners, don’t they?”
