Saint-André admits Sale task is ‘win or die affair’
The Sharks, who beat Guinness Premiership table toppers London Irish 14-8 are desperate to advance to the knock-out stages for just the second time.
The Sale boss admits that things are so tight at the summit of Pool One that defeat at Thomond Park will end that dream. But Saint-André, who leaves the club at the end of the season, last night issued a rallying call to his players.
“At the end of last season we wanted to qualify one way or another for the Heineken Cup — because this is the greatest competition in Europe — and we are happy to be part of it this season. But now we would like to go further and qualify for the quarter-finals and then we will be fully satisfied with our progress.
“And to achieve that goal it’s fairly simple — we have to win our next two games — and the first of those will be the most difficult as we go to Limerick to face Munster, the European champions.
“We wanted to be in the Heineken Cup to play the biggest games you can possibly imagine in top level rugby and we couldn’t dream of a better clash than facing teams like Munster.
“It doesn’t get much better than this. And this game will be decisive. As far as we are concerned it’ll be “win or die” because there won’t be a runner-up qualifying from our Pool so it is vital that we produce a quality performance.”
Despite such pressures, Saint-André, agrees his side will play with ‘a certain confidence’.
“It’ll be difficult but we will approach the game with a lot of determination and we’ll be up for the challenge and meeting the expectations of such an event.
“We will go into the game with eagerness and we will do our maximum to win. Sometimes in rugby it comes down to the tiny details which make you either a winner or loser, so we can only play with all our heart — and that’s exactly what we will do.
“Currently we are in a good position in both our domestic championship and in the Heineken Cup and we’ve been playing with a certain confidence.
“But we know that it will be tough going to Munster because we experienced a severe defeat a couple of seasons ago when they scored four tries, which was a real hammering.
“And, looking back on my time at Sale Sharks, I can say that I have spent five exceptional years with the club we have won the Guinness Premiership and the European Challenge Cup — and we nearly got through to the 2006 Heineken Cup semi-finals — so overall it’s all good memories.
“Let’s hope we can now add the icing on the cake by reaching the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup, although we know it’ll be hard because these games are at the highest level.
“Ideally I would love to leave the club on a high, with a good season and good results, and I hope it’s not over yet and that the best is still to come. As a coach you always want to do better and keep achieving great things with a club.”
Meanwhile Connacht coach Michael Bradley has named his side for Saturday’s European Challenge Cup tie against London Irish at the Madejski Stadium with 12 changes from the side beaten by the Scarlets on Friday. Bradley is linking Saturday’s tie with the final pool game the following Friday at home to French side Dax — Connacht need to win at least one of those games to book a quarter-final spot.
“We are taking the two games as a pair and will be using our full squad over the two games. We have made a lot of changes as the same team, more or less, has played the last three matches against Munster, Leinster and the Scarlets in 13 days and could not be expected to play five games in a row. We need a win and probably a bonus point from these two games and that should be enough for us to qualify,” said Bradley.
Former London Irish hooker Adrian Flavin will captain the Connacht side.
CONNACHT (v London Irish): D Riordan; F Carr, J Hearty, M Deane, T Nathan; A Dunne, K Campbell; J Lyne, A Flavin (capt), R Loughney; M Swift, A Farley; A Browne, D Gannon, C Rigney.
Replacements: J Merrigan, B McGovern, M McCarthy, J Muldoon, C O’Loughlin, I Keatley, M Roberts.
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