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Getty ImagesNorthampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson has warned his players to beware a Sale Sharks side intent on “righting wrongs” when the two teams meet at Heywood Road on Saturday.
Saints lead the Prem table by two points from Bath and Dowson wants another victory in their final league fixture for almost two months as the competition breaks for the Six Nations.
They won 47-21 when the two sides met in Northampton last month but the seventh-placed Sharks have a formidable home record.
“It’s one of the hardest places to go and win. They’ve lost three games [there] in three seasons in the Premiership – they’ve got an 85% home record,” Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton.
“It’s not just us that struggle to go to Sale and get results, and fundamentally that’s because they’ve got a very good group of players and a good coaching group who’ve got them invested in what they’re trying to do – they’re a challenge.”
Northampton scored seven tries when they beat Sale at Franklin’s Gardens, but Dowson said: “I think that will probably give them a bit of an edge to try and rectify that result.
“[Sale director of rugby] Alex Sanderson has already mentioned that they want to right some of the wrongs from that particular fixture. It’s a whole new ball game on Saturday night.”
Following their 43-28 win over Scarlets in the European Champions Cup last weekend, Saints are again likely to field a strong XV before they switch to the Prem Rugby Cup (PRC) for four weeks.
“There will be an element of rotation because some guys have played four, five, six games on the bounce and this isn’t the right game for them to start,” Dowson said.
“They’re tough decisions, so yes, there will be an element of rotation and an element of all guns blazing and trying to put our best foot forward to give us a good chance of winning.”
Northampton will have a home tie against Castres when the Champions Cup resumes in April.
“The path’s been mapped out – to have them in the round of 16 at home is exciting and it’s credit to the players and the coaching group to have got that over the line,” Dowson added.
“Now we need to switch our focus for a one-off game against Sale away before we get into the PRC, which will be totally different with lots of players away on international duty with England, Italy, Scotland, and also to the England under-20s.
“It’ll be an interesting test of our depth in the next couple of months.”
