Sale Sharks sharpen their teeth after 'Tuna' chirp by Durban Sharks owner Masotti

SHARKS owner Marco Masotti’s chirp that the Sale Sharks should rebrand themselves as the “Sale Tuna” could come back to bite him when the teams meet in a Champions Cup fixture on Saturday in Manchester.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

Masotti said on social media that one of his New Year’s wishes was for Sale to undergo a name change to leave the Durban team as world rugby’s sole “Sharks” team. Masotti said: “T will be there in person. I hope the Sale fans show up to see the real @ SharksRugby. There can be only one. Good luck to the Sale Tuna.”

While Masotti is known for his tongue-in-cheek jibes on social media, he may, in this case, have shot himself in the foot for two reasons: one, the Sharks are resting their Springboks for this match and sending a young side; and two, the Sale Sharks have said they feel disrespected by the chirp and will use it as motivation.

Alex Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, told The Times: “We've been theming it up like that, who is going to be the bigger, better, more aggressive Shark,” he said.