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Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson is backing Nathan Jibulu to achieve his England made his debut in time to be considered for next year’s World Cup after praising his star performance against Saracens.
Jibulu was named man of the match in Gallagher Prem’s 21-17 win at the StoneX Stadium after a wild performance that was accompanied by precision on the touchline.
The 23-year-old excelled with England head coach Steve Borthwick watching from the stands as the picture on the whore got complicated.
Jamie George was also in Saracens crowd with a pubic problem, his assistant Theo Dan limped off injured and Sale’s Luke Cowan-Dickie was rested to manage his knees.
Sanderson said: “Whenever you watch Nathan play, he makes a shot. He gets a yard on both sides of the ball and we knew he had it in him.”
“He was a wrecking ball and wreaked havoc on the pitch. He nailed his lines and showed he was international class.”
“You can get away with being quick and nimble in Prem, but that’s another level again in terms of the power that’s required at international level, and he has that ability. He’s immensely strong.”
“This could be the season when he explodes onto the international scene. Theo Dan is a great player but it doesn’t look like anyone is going to usurp that position after Cowan-Dickie or George.”
“There’s been a lot of rotation between the two of them and with England looking to build into the World Cup, this could be it for him, a good opportunity.”
Sale were reduced to 13 men three minutes into the first half after Jacques Vermeulen was shown a red card on 20 minutes and Alex Lozowski was sent to the sin bin, both for high tackles.
However, they still got Saracens on their feet, dominating the second half at a ground where they had lost 13 of their previous 15 away games.
Sanderson said, “Resilience breeds confidence and nurtures belief. They now have the knowledge to get through those moments.”
Saracens impressed with their opening weekend win over Leicester but this lifeless display was a step backwards.
Head coach Joe Shaw said: “We couldn’t really get into our flow, that’s true. Credit to Sale, they came and fired.”
“They had some trouble, which we had last weekend, but they kept coming. We have to take it on the chin and keep going.”