Director of Rugby Stuart Hooper spoke to the media ahead of the match.

On the Bristol game...

For large parts of the game we did some good stuff and then we ended up on the wrong end of a very good second half performance from Bristol. We want to get back out there and back to work again. We have a huge amount of hunger and determination to get back out and put in a winning performance.

The threat posed by Sale..

The obvious strengths are in their power and their ability to carry the ball with their forward pack, but also in the back line with players like Sam Hill or Manu, if he’s back, or van Renburg. They have powerful ball carrier and in Faf de Klerk and Raphael Quirke, they have nines that work very well on the back of momentum gained from those big guys.

On Will Stuart…

He was cleared of a fracture, which was the bit we were worried about. He’s now just got to get fit from a HIA perspective.

On Jonathan Joseph rumours…

I’ve seen what’s been written but he is contracted to us. Evidently with our own layers, or big players around the world who are connected with us, this seems to happen (being linked to other clubs). But as ever, if there’s more to talk about, we will communicate that.

On England 2021 summer fixtures and Tom De Glanville...

Tom was obviously involved at the back end of last season. Before his injury, I thought he was in outstanding form at fullback; consistently beating the opposite man, providing options on the counter attack. The fact that he’s been involved before and his abilities in different areas of fullback play in particular are very strong, I’d imagine his name will be talked about in those circles.

He’s absolutely shown here that he’s learnt from that experience with the Barbarians at the back of the year. He’s diligent, he’s all over his preparation and he’s somebody who loves playing the game. I don’t know but I’d hope he’d get a shot.

On the 2020/21 season…

There’s a process going ahead now as to how we review the season and questions will be formulated from players to coaches right through to board level, as I’m sure there will be at every club, whether you’ve have the season that you set out to have or the one you didn’t.

Ultimately there’s been a number of occasions where we’ve had opportunities and not taken them. I think that combined with the tries we’ve conceded is an area we need to look at moving into next year.

Evidently we haven’t achieved everything we have wanted to. To put the possible reasons into silos is too simplistic. If you look at the teams that we see do well over time, they’re the ones that get the blend right. The expectation and consistency across all of those areas is key.

Press notes | Sale Sharks | Gallagher Premiership | R19

Related News