Alex Sanderson marvels at Agustin Creevy's Sale Sharks debut after World Cup return - 'He's trained for 18 minutes'
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Published 03/11/2023 at 22:55 GMT
Sale Sharks hosted Gloucester at the AJ Bell Stadium live on TNT Sports, with both sides looking to bounce back from defeats in the Gallagher Premiership, but it was the hosts who prevailed thanks to some inspired performances all over the pitch. Alex Sanderson, Sale's director of rugby, was particularly impressed with Agustin Creevy who scored on his debut after returning from World Cup duty.
Agustin Creevy of Sale Sharks cuts through the defence during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Sale Sharks and Gloucester Rugby at AJ Bell Stadium on November 03, 2023 in Salford, England
Image credit: Getty Images
Despite featuring for Argentina in the Rugby World Cup’s third-place play-off a week ago, Agustin Creevy played a star role as Sale Sharks moved top of the Gallagher Premiership with a 24-10 win over Gloucester at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Both sides came into the contest on a wet Manchester evening on the back of a loss but it was the hosts who prevailed thanks to some standout performances from the returning cohort of World Cup stars.
George Ford grabbed the headlines before kick-off but Creevy’s contribution on his debut after such limited time with his new team-mates proved there is plenty of rugby left in the 38-year-old.
“He’s trained for 18 minutes and played more rugby than he has in the last five months at the World Cup,” Sale’s director of rugby Alex Sanderson told TNT Sports. “What a player, what a bloke.
“We were in dire straits with hookers because of injuries and he’s like, ‘No problem, Al’. Even though I gave him the week off he said, ‘I want to come up and be with you boys’ and he showed it tonight, didn’t he?
“He’s such a seasoned professional. He's the most-capped Argentine of all time. So if anyone's going to slip into a role where he's able to manage a scrum that he's not used to or throw to a line-out that he hasn’t worked the calls out with before, it’s going to be him.
“At least that was the theory, and it came true.”
The performance was in stark contrast to last week, when Sale failed to score a point in a 43-0 humiliation against Exeter.
The Sharks fell behind to a George Barton penalty in the 13th minute but recovered to hit back emphatically.
In treacherous conditions, the decision-making was bold and the execution flawless as the home side defied conventional logic to ship it wide through the hands to open up space for Arron Reed to slide over the line in the corner three minutes later.
Reed then bagged his brace just before the break when Jack Reeves spilled a classic Ford ‘spiral bomb’, with Gus Warr gathering brilliantly and unleashing the winger who added the finishing touches.
More pressure told in the 52nd minute when Ben Curry powered over the line to increase Sale’s advantage by five points after more uncharacteristic kicking from Ford, but for all the England star struggled off the tee, he made his impact felt with the ball in hand.
The 30-year-old learnt the game in his back garden, and it showed as he pulled the strings, often with a host of defenders breathing down his neck.
There was even as inspired piece of defending to halt a potential break that could have got Gloucester back within a converted try.
Rob du Preez, who has deputised superbly at fly-half in Ford’s absence, was also a force at 13, running incisive lines in a combination that will strike fear into Sale’s rivals.
Creevy then secured the bonus point from the back of a line-out maul, timing his breakaway to perfection to touch down 10 minutes from time.
The result took Sale to the top of the table and Sanderson was understandably delighted with the way his side bounced back.
“We had some honest conversations and I thought that was much more like us,” Sanderson added. “The set-piece was dominant for the most part, we were at our physical best, and it was good to see Fordy just flashing and running around those rucks in the backfield and changing the point of the talk.
“It’s good to have all our internationals back. What was your bar has been raised substantially, because those lads who aren’t starting, who are on the bench, are training against them.
"So we experienced that this week and we've got a good performance out of it.
"Ben Curry as well was back from injury and the debutant Alex Wills on the left wing has been good for the Under-20s, so a star for the future maybe."
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