By NIK SIMON
Published: | Updated:
This was not what Courtney Lawes had in mind when he traded his life in France.
There were great expectations for the forward’s return to English rugby but Sale’s opening day at the CorpAcq Stadium did not go to plan.
Alex Sanderson went on a heavy recruitment drive over the summer – Lawes being the headline signing – but it was Bristol’s more settled squad that came out on top.
Harry Randall and Louis Rees-Zammit scored two tries apiece for the visitors, who left delighted with their bonus-point victory. ‘Very happy’, was the summation last night from Bristol coach Pat Lam.
Sale are under pressure to deliver a return on their investment and there are only so many results like this that will be tolerated. Home victories will be key if they are going to make the top four this season.
Ill-discipline gifted Bristol easy entries into the red zone. Lawes spent much of the game trying to put out fires caused by penalties but Bristol’s ruck intensity was a notch higher than what he had faced during his two years in France’s second division.
There were great expectations for Courtney Lawes’ return to English rugby but Sale’s opening day did not go to plan
England suddenly have a wealth of locks who can operate at No 6, and Lawes would come in as fifth choice
Sanderson, however, remains supremely confident that his squad will hit the right notes quickly. He said: ‘We know there’s more in us. We need to improve. We need to be honest and we will be. There are a lot of good players who are going to have better games moving forward.’
There is great debate around whether Lawes will be recalled to the England squad – three years after his last Test – and it will take more than this to convince the national selectors.
Thanks to the rapid development of Alex Coles and the return to fitness of George Martin, England suddenly have a wealth of locks who can operate at No 6. Ollie Chessum is the pick of the bunch and skipper Maro Itoje, who was rested over the summer, must prove that he is still worthy of a place in the starting XV.
Lawes would come in as fifth choice. But head coach Steve Borthwick’s move towards a lineout-jumping flanker means Coles, Martin, Chessum and Itoje should all make the matchday 23, meaning Lawes could only be one injury away from a return during the autumn Tests.
When England were selecting their squad for their latest alignment camp, Lawes was listed in the ‘maybe’ category and Sale must show an all-round improvement if his status is going to change. You suspect he will get there eventually.
Bristol centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg delivered the standout display of the England contenders. He charged down George Ford’s channel in the early exchanges, ensuring the No 10 did not have a gentle return to the new season.
It was an underwhelming day for Ford, who dropped the ball inside Bristol’s 22 and missed a routine penalty kick to touch. Sale’s scrum impressed but their lineout faltered.
There were flashes of energy from Xavier Roe, Joe Marchant and Alex Lozowski but Bristol showed more life in the opposition 22. The visitors took the lead after half an hour and the hosts failed to wrestle their way back in front.
Bristol were frustratingly inconsistent last season but Lam believes the workrate on display in Manchester will patch together some of their flaws.
‘You want some evidence from the hard work you do in pre-season,’ said Lam.
‘Ellis Genge spoke on Thursday and said, “I’m ready, I’m confident, let’s go”. The biggest thing was our work-rate. When we started here 10 years ago, we built our game on being world class at the things that don’t require talent. If you get consistency in work-rate, you will get consistency in your attack shape and consistency in your defence shape.
‘Too many times last year, we had guys on the ground and guys not in the right places. Our defence and attack wasn’t as good last year as it has been and a lot of that comes down to working off the ball.’
The forlorn look on Sanderson’s face at the final whistle told a different story to Lam’s delight. Ford missed a late penalty that would have scraped a losing bonus point and Sale were left to do some early season soul-searching.
