05/06 Sale Sharks: Where are they now?

It’s hard to believe but the forthcoming Aviva Premiership playoffs will make the 10-year anniversary of Sale Sharks’ first, and thus far only, Premiership title.

It seems like just yesterday that Philippe Saint-André’s charges were marauding their way to the top of the then Guinness Premiership table, before dispatching the two heavyweights of English rugby in the playoffs, London Wasps and Leicester Tigers.

Just three current Sharks - Magnus Lund, Neil Briggs and Eifion Lewis-Roberts - remain from that title-winning side, so we decided to take a look back at that talented group and see where they are now and how they fared after they left the North-West.

At loosehead, Sale had the herculean Andrew Sheridan before injury curtailed his campaign, which opened up more opportunities for Frenchman Lionel Faure. Both Sheridan and Faure departed Sale for France, with Sheridan enjoying plenty of success at Toulon and Faure doing likewise with Clermont.

Another French front rower prospered under Saint-André at Sale and that was hooker Sébastian Bruno. Bruno shared playing time with Andy Titterrell and both were big favourites of the Edgeley Park crowd. Bruno ended up moving to Toulon, where Sheridan would later join him, whilst injuries prevented Titterrell from ever realising his potential and he bounced around a few clubs before retiring on medical advice. He is the current strength and conditioning coach at Wasps.

Stuart Turner, one of England’s more underrated players of the post-2003 era, was the club’s first-choice tighthead. Turner’s performances at the fulcrum of the Sale scrum in that season saw him go on to win three test caps for England the following year. He has recently been announced as Head Coach at Waterloo Rugby Club.

Moving to the second row and there were plenty of talented players available to Saint-André who went on to have illustrious careers. Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and Chris Jones tended to pack down in the engine room, but they were more than ably assisted by Christian Day and Dean Schofield. Both Lobbe and Day went on to play for Northampton Saints, where Day is still plying his trade, whilst Schofield contributed to the English revolution that was going on at Toulon, joining the club in 2010 (and is now coaching Nat2s Sedgley Tigers).

Jones was among the standout players for Sale that season and is one of the major ‘what if’ men of the post-RWC-winning England sides. The lock went on to win 12 England caps but was never seen as a first-choice option under Andy Robinson or Brian Ashton. After 10 years at Sale, Jones had a three-year stint at Worcester and currently turns out for Yorkshire Carnegie in the Greene King IPA Championship, where he announced his retirement earlier this week.

Sale’s 2005/06 back row may be one of the best the Premiership has ever seen but failing that, it is certainly at least one of the most iconic. At blindside was the versatile Scotland captain Jason White, Lund patrolled the openside and at eight was one of the most enigmatic players to ever pick up a rugby ball, Sébastien Chabal. The trio dovetailed superbly during their time at the club and were the driving force behind a dominant Sale pack that season.

White spent six years at Sale, clocking up over 100 appearances, before finishing his playing career in France with Clermont. Likewise, Lund also spent six seasons at Sale before trying his hand in France with Biarritz, but the powerful flanker has since returned to the Sharks and has played a vital role for them in the 2015/16 season. Chabal, or the ‘Caveman’ as he was known in France, continued the trend of Saint-André’s team of heading across the Channel and had stints with Racing Metro and Lyon before finally hanging up his boots in 2014.

Sale’s impressive half-back duo of Richard Wigglesworth and Charlie Hodgson are still playing at a high level, albeit further south in London, and along with the back row, were the catalyst for much of Sale’s success that season. Ben Foden, then a scrum-half, also featured for Sale that season, as did Sililo Martens and Valentin Courrent. Foden departed Sale for Northampton, another well-trodden path in this Sale team, in order to play regularly at full-back, whilst Martens moved on to the Scarlets and Courrent went on to enjoy a productive but short career at Toulouse.

Sale had just lost a club legend in Jos Baxendell in the centres heading into the 2005/06 season and it was a void that was filled well by Elvis Seveali’i. The Samoan had been a clinical try-scorer for Bath and the Ospreys previously and carried that on at Sale, before eventually moving on to London Irish. Spaniard Oriol Ripol was another mainstay in the Sale midfield, whilst Welshman Mark Taylor featured both in the centres and on the wing.

Ripol became a cult favourite of Premiership fans during his five-year stay at Sale, impressing with his versatility, goal-kicking and work rate. Ripol and Taylor moved on to Worcester and the Ospreys respectively, where they both spent a single season before retiring.

The back three was another area where Sale excelled, offering plenty of star power in the forms of Jason Robinson, Steve Hanley and Mark Cueto. All three players spent the remainders of their careers at Sale. Hanley set the Premiership record for tries when he retired in 2008 with 75, only to then see that record eclipsed by Cueto, whose 90 tries currently rule the roost. Tom Varndell sits just behind Cueto with 85 tries and he could set a new record should Bristol achieve promotion to the Premiership this year.

As for Robinson, he captained Sale to the title in the 2005/06 season and was so often the difference-maker for the Sharks in that campaign. In doing so, he became the first player to lift both the Premiership and Super League trophies during his career and will go down as one of the best players to have ever donned the Sale jersey.

It is unfortunate for Sale that they were unable to keep the band together and try to establish a dynasty of their own, the likes of which Wasps and Leicester had both enjoyed, but that should not undermine the achievements of that side.

This season marks the 10^th anniversary of Sale’s finest hour and what an hour it was.