Sharks Ready For The New Season, Just 16 Days Away
August 19th, 2009 Posted in General, Sale Sharks
SALE SHARKS Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones reckons his squad is better equipped to fight on all fronts than 12 months ago.The Sharks face a demanding schedule of Heineken Cup, Guinness Premiership and EDF Cup games. While there are plenty of big boots to fill, Jones, who is preparing for his first full season in charge of the Sharks, insists that losing fewer players when the international matches begin midway through the season will help him.
“In many ways, we’re in a better position this year than we were last year to compete on more fronts,” said Kingsley.
“We’ve got less international call-ups so we’ve got more players. You don’t get a break until March so you need the squad.
“You can’t win eight out of nine games at the start of the season and then get to the autumn period and lose four out of four. And the reason is not a coincidence, you’re losing 12 players.
Jones has still set his sights high and hopes the Sharks could go better than last season’s fifth place finish as well as progressing through their tough Heineken Cup draw, which pitches them against Toulouse, Cardiff Blues and Harlequins.
“If we can finish in the top four it will be a massive achievement,” he added.
“That is over-achieving in one sense because we’re a new squad but I don’t see why we can’t aim for that. We want to win every game we play and the Heineken Cup is where everybody wants to be.”
While much of the talk has been about the exodus of players to the cash-rich French league, Ben Cohen is one player, who has made the move in the other direction, joining Sale from Brive. And Jones is delighted with the enthusiasm and experience that the England star has brought to the training ground.
“I’ve been really impressed with Ben particularly coming back to England and the Premiership and his attitude has been incredible,” he said.
“He’s 30 which is a good age. He’s got the experience and has still got what it takes. He’s still got the desire and hopefully we’ll get two or three great years out of him, maybe more.
Sale Sharks start their Guinness Premiership campaign with a home game against Leicester Tigers on Friday 4th September, kick off 7-45pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling 08444-994-994 or online at www.salesharks.com.
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