Tigers looking for winning ways at Birmingham

After last Saturday's home defeat to Lancashire rivals Fylde, it's time for the Tigers to get back to winning ways again, as they travel to the Midlands to face up to bottom side, Birmingham Bees.

Having started the year on the front foot, with that amazing second half comeback at Coventry, the defeat to Fylde left head coach Richard Senior feeling that: "The score didn't reflect the game, and we did well to go in at half-time with two men down at 10-8"

With two yellow cards late on in the first half, Sedgley defended well, and stopped the visitors from scoring again until the second period, when the game opened out.

Number 8 Juan Crous scored his first try of the season to get the ball rolling, and his side will be hoping for more of the same, as his carrying over the gain line during the season to date has been fantastic, and is one of the big forward threats in a game that, given the wet weather that is predicted, will surely be dominated by the packs.

Coach Dave Peet gave his thoughts ahead of the game at Damson Park: "Birmingham are the in form team, with two wins so far this year, beating Wharfedale and Stourbridge. The Birmingham pack are dominant, and we know that our pack has got to front up tomorrow"

The Bees of course, have the ever-dangerous Mark Woodrow kicking from fly-half, after his contentious move from local rivals Stourbridge. He kicked six penalties last weekend in the win against his former club, and is the man who could cause problems for the Tigers.

Peet spoke about the penalties that the side have been giving away, and knows that they have to be careful in the breakdown: "We need to keep our discipline in our own half, not giving away penalties, as Woodrow kicked six from six last week, and scored a load more the week before"

The starting line-up shows one change from last Saturday, with Simon Parrott replacing brother Chris at fly-half, as he is attending the funeral of former Sale Sharks winger Selorm Kuadey.

Starting Sedgley Park line-up -

15 Richard Wainwright, 14 Michael Dutton, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Matt Riley, Jamie Harrison, 10 Simon Parrott, 9 Will Runciman; 1 Dan Birchall, 2 Richard Oxley, 3 Nick Flynn, 4 James Lloyd, 5 Louis McGowan, 6 Henno Venter, 7 Dave Livesey, 8 Juan Crous
Replacements - Ben Black, Scott Wright, Adam Lewis, Greg Smith, Fergus Owens

Tigers hunt for revenge on Fylde

This Saturday sees Lancashire's two top sides lock horns once more at Park Lane, as Sedgley Park look to avenge their 43-10 thrashing in September.

The home side are on a high after their second half performance at Coventry, where they overturned a 14-0 half-time deficit to win by 24-14, while Fylde beat a determined Stourbridge side at the Woodlands by 31-21, after losing three players to yellow cards.

Fortunately for Fylde, two of those cards arrived with less than five minutes of the game remaining, and although they conceded a last minute try, they already had the game sewn up.

The Tigers had their own discipline problems to contend with, as prop Dan Birchall saw yellow five minutes into the second half, but while he was off the pitch, his team-mates pulled a try back through man of the match Matt Riley.

Sedgley are still without club captain Garth Dew, who suffered a knee injury before Christmas that will most likely see him out for the rest of the season. The armband has gone in his absence to Nick Flynn, who spoke about the second half comeback.

“For me it was what was said at half time in the dressing rooms that made the difference. There was no punching of walls or ‘hairdryer treatments” from Richard Senior.

“As a team we knew what we had done well and not so well and were just given the direction what to do to put that right.

“Credit where it is due, there was never an ounce of panic at half time or throughout the second half; we just needed that kick start to get us going. Danny Birchall going to the sin bin seemed to do the trick for us! Cheers Danny.”

That victory keeps the Tigers in mid table, with a 50% win rate, while their visitors from the coast lie in third place, having jumped ahead of Ealing after their win on Saturday.

The top of the table remains too close to call, with only four points separating the top four sides; Rosslyn Park and Jersey having overtaken early pacesetters Fylde and Ealing.

Among the top four, Fylde appear to be the poor relations, given the financial clout of the other three clubs.

But, their first season back at level three for a number of years has seen them upset the applecart, especially after their first five games, when with a 100% record, they led the pack.

It’s the January fixtures which Fylde need to make count, as the run-in to the season sees them host Ealing before their final game of the season at Jersey.

Sedgley Park on the other hand, face the big two next month; visiting Ealing before hosting Jersey. Shock results here would certainly upset the applecart.

Back to this Saturday, the pressure will be on Fylde to keep the momentum going, while the Tigers will be looking to get their home form back, after losing in a disappointing performance to Macclesfield in their last home match of 2011.

Sale Sharks Press Conference - Tuesday 3 January 2012

Co-owner Ian Blackhurst today announced that Steve Diamond has been appointed Chief Executive of Sale Sharks from 1 February 2012.

In a lengthy press conference, the two men outlined their vision for the club's playing strategy for the future.

Both men reiterated during the meeting that they want to see the Sharks become a "Super Club for the north west". With the points raised during the announcement, they outlined their visions.
This involves the increase in the Academy structure at the club, which during Diamond's 11 month tenure at the club has seen the number of junior players at the club rise from 16 to 90 players.

As a mark of intent, Diamond stated that while he is at the club, they will not be making any further marquee signings, something that Blackhurst confirmed.

Blackhurst spoke of the club's past, in relation to their previous success of winning the Premiership title in 2006, having brought in foreign players to boost their chances of success. That title success he said, was "not sustainable as a result of the foreign players".

Currently operating well under the salary cap limits imposed by Premiership Rugby, and to make his point about the club now moving on the road to becoming a more sustainable financial model, Diamond stated that "You will not hear us bleating on about salary caps ever!".

Blackhurst confirmed that Diamond's "prime responsibility now is the success of the business". The coaching team will remain, with Tony Hanks as Head Coach being assisted by the current team already in place.

Manager Ray Unsworth, and assistant Pete Anglesea will continue to manage the Academy.

The new Salford Community Stadium, which hosts
its first fixture on 7 January.

On other matters, Blackhurst admitted that the club are still in negotiation about a move to the Salford Reds new stadium at Barton. Nearing completion, the stadium will be ready for the start of the 2012 Super League season, and there has been much talk of Sale becoming joint tenants with the Super League club.

"We're quite far in negotiations" Blackhurst advised, but it should be confirmed very soon, perhaps only in 6-8 weeks time.

Another move announced today was that the Carrington office block will be doubled in size, in order to accommodate all of the club's admin staff, who are to move from the offices currently in the Edgeley Park ground in Stockport. This move will happen in the next 12-18 months.

I think that this announcment gives a clear indication of where the club's future lies in terms of its Friday night home in the coming years.

The conference was recorded, and is available to listen to on the link below.



The Sale Sharks Director of Sport, Steve Diamond is announcing to the press plans which the club have for the future of the club at 12 noon on Tuesday 3 January.

A brief announcement was made in The Telegraph on 30 December, and comments in that report have already created much discussion within community rugby circles in the north west.

I'll be attending the meeting, and hope to broadcast the announcement live using the ipadio system.

Clicking on the embedded link below, you should be able to hear it live!! If there is a problem in any way, I'll also be recording it separately, and will upload it later in the day.

It would be great to hear some comments and feedback about it!