Robinson leads a Shark attack

WHAT would be the greatest all-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody playing in their pomp? Brendan Gallagher continues his series doing precisely that for the 10 Premiership sides, selecting Dream Teams for all concerned.

- 

Preference will generally be given to players who had a reasonably long-term commitment to the club involved... but selection is an art not a science and if an individual made an historically indelible mark in a short period of time, they will come into the reckoning. This week we look at Sale Sharks.

FULLBACK

15 Jason Robinson (2000-2007)

You could, of course, play Robinson on the wing but he always excelled in the 15 shirt for Sale. Played a prominent role in their European Challenge Cup successes of 2002 and 2005 and all that was, in retrospect, a prelude to their Championship title in 2006, which culminated with their crushing 45-20 win over Leicester Tigers at Twickenham. As well as captaining one of the greatest ever Premiership sides, Robinson gave Sale an X-factor which unsettled opposition sides. It was from Sale that Robinson won further recognition with 51 England caps and two Lions tours, in 2001 and 2005. With England, he was part of the Grand Slam and then World Cup winning team of 2003, scoring in the final eight years after he played for England in the Rugby League World Cup final against Australia. After announcing his retirement from Test rugby in 2005, there was an unexpected comeback in 2007 when he was a member of the England squad that reached the World Cup final in Paris. All this on top of a rugby league career which saw him score 167 tries in 302 games for Wigan with another 13 in 21 Tests for GB and England. Mention must also be made of Jim Mallinder, who logged nearly 400 games in his distinguished career with the club while the ultra versatile young Ben Foden showed up very well at Sale before starring with Northampton Saints. Foden is an obvious man for the bench.

RIGHT WING

14 Steve Hanley (1998-2008)