Sale Sharks make Alex Sanderson 'sack decision' after another embarrassing defeat

Sunday, 19 April 2026 at 19:43

bySteven Smith

A Noah Caluori-inspired Saracens reignited their Premiership play-off push in emphatic fashion, running riot with a 13-try demolition of Sale Sharks, 85-19, at the CorpAcq Stadium.

It was the kind of statement performance that underlines Saracens’ intent at the business end of the season—while piling further pressure on a Sale side whose campaign continues to unravel.

For the Sharks, the numbers make grim reading. Three wins from 13 Premiership outings is well below expectations, particularly given the club’s continued investment.

Big-name arrivals including Joe Marchant and Courtney Lawes are already locked in for next season, but answers are needed now.

There was no shortage of motivation coming into this clash. Earlier in the season, Alex Sanderson had bristled at Saracens’ social media antics following a 65-14 thrashing at StoneX Stadium in December—most notably a now-infamous video of a fish being dunked into a deep-fat fryer.

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“We got stuffed then got our faces rubbed in it from their side,” Sanderson had said. “That still stings for me.”

Any hopes that lingering resentment would fuel a response were quickly extinguished.

Despite signs of resilience in their recent Champions Cup defeat to Leinster, Sale were blown away here. Saracens dominated from the outset, exposing defensive frailties and a worrying lack of fight.

By full-time, Sanderson cut a dejected figure.

“Clearly we haven’t found the buttons to press to motivate us for the back end of the season,” he told TNT Sports.
“When everything goes wrong it is genuinely down to mentality. When there is a little bit wrong in every area then we haven’t pitched up with the right attitude, physically.

“It felt like we were just surviving. It felt like we were chasing shadows. Motivation, collective purpose fixes a lot of those wholesale problems. I have told them to go home and sleep on it, because we are in tomorrow and we will get some answers off them.”

With no immediate decisions expected on the club’s direction, Sale’s hierarchy are set to wait until the end of the season before making any calls—but performances like this will only intensify scrutiny.