This weekend sees the start of the 2022/23 Heineken Cup, with Manchester’s Sale Sharks kicking off their campaign against Ulster Rugby at the AJ Bell Stadium in Eccles.
This game will kick-off at 1pm GMT on Sunday, with the Sharks going in search of their first ever Heineken Cup semi-final this season.
However, they’ll have to qualify from Pool B first, while it’s fair to say that they’re not among the favourites to challenge this season. But can they kick off with a win, and do they have the potential to break new ground in the sport’s premier continental tournament?
A Look Ahead to Ulster
Sale (like their weekend opponents Ulster) have enjoyed a strong start to their domestic campaign, winning seven of their first nine Gallagher Premiership games to sit second in the table.
Conversely, Ulster are fourth in the United Rugby Championship (URC), with six victories recorded from eight outings.
This should allow for a competitive and high-quality content in Eccles this weekend, while both teams will be confident of kick starting their continental campaigns with a win. The rugby fixtures have certainly matched two in-form sides on the opening weekend, and this is particularly good news for neutral fans of the sport!
It should be noted that both sides also progressed to the knockout stages of last season’s Heineken Champions Cup, with Sale eventually losing comfortably to Racing 92 in the quarterfinals.
Ulster were eliminated at the first time of asking during the round of 16, thanks to a late, gut-wrenching aggregate defeat to Stade Toulosain.
How Far Can Sale Go This Season?
While qualification from Pool B will be Sale’s first objective as they look to reach the round of 16 at least for the third consecutive season, there’s no doubt that coach Paul Deacon and his charges will want to improve on their historic performance in the tournament.
After all, despite reaching the quarterfinals in the last two campaigns, they’ve yet to progress beyond this point since the tournament’s inception in the summer of 1995.
For their part, Ulster won the EPCR’s major honour in 1999, while they also reached the tournament’s showpiece final in 2012.
Ultimately, Sale have become known as the bridesmaids of British and continental rugby, having finished in fifth, sixth and seventh and narrowly missing out on the top four in three of the last four seasons.
However, this seasons’ start has been impressive from a domestic perspective, while it should be noted that the team also won its last three league matches in 2021/22.
They’ve certainly been busy in the transfer market, securing talented fly-half George Ford from Leicester Tigers and scrum-half Joe Simpson on a short-term deal, while the sides boasts excellent defensive strength and is particularly blessed in the hooker position.
Here, South African star Akker Van der Merwe is a dominant force that will lead the side superbly from the front, and when the 31-year-old is absent or replaced, the talented 22-year-old and Scottish international Ewan Ashman is ready and willing to take centre stage.
The Last Word
While Sale may have just fallen short of challenging for domestic and European honours in recent years, their impressive start to the Gallagher Premiership season suggests that things may be about to change in 2022/23.
Similarly, the side will be confident that they can replicate this form in Europe and finally challenge in the Heineken Champions Cup, but they’ll want to start their continental campaign with a home win against Ulster!
