Sharks deserve far more recognition

RUGBY has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others but I’ve always been amazed that the Sale championship-winning team of 2006 is not more lauded. Sale that year defeated a very strong Leicester side 4520 in the final and in so doing became the first team to ever top the regular season league table and win the play-offs.

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

 

The celebrated Leicester, Wasps, Saracens and, going back a bit, Bath teams receive endless lavish praise and eulogies to their greatness but I’m not sure that Sale’s class of 2006 ever get the kudos they deserve, particularly their pack which I would contend was, for a short time, the equal of any Premiership pack we have seen.

They didn’t enjoy the dynastic longevity of the others, I guess that’s the reason, but again that depends from which angle you view their trajectory. It’s true Sale didn’t kick on to even greater glories but people tend to forget what preceded their Championship winning season – 2006 was a final summit push and bid for ultimate glory not a base camp.

In the early noughties, lest we forget, Sale won two European Challenge Cup trophies in brilliant style, beating Pontypridd in 2002 and Pau in 2005, both finals being at the Kassam Stadium, Oxford.

They could also reflect on second, third and fourth placed finishes in the Premiership, the former before the play-offs were introduced so in effect a runners-up spot. Sale could be a little erratic but great entertainers – how could it be otherwise with the likes of Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and Steven Hanley out wide – and a half-back pairing of Richard Wigglesworth and Charlie Hodgson putting them in prime attacking areas.