After today’s clash, the Sharks travel to four-time winners Leinster, then face 2022 URC champions the Stormers in Cape Town before concluding the pool stages with a home date against hat-trick-seeking La Rochelle.
If ever evidence was needed that the Champions Cup is the closest thing to Test rugby, this is it. “The biggest crowds, best venues – it is as close to international rugby as you can get. That’s the rhetoric I have been saying every year but because I have said it before it doesn’t make it any less true,” said Sanderson.
“We don’t want to be the whipping boys of this group, which is what most people had us down to be when the pools got announced; that’s proper motivation for us to step out of that shadow.
“We are in the hardest group. They are all hard groups but this is way and above the hardest. You either look at it being a tough Christmas or you appreciate for what it is – a brilliant opportunity to see how you stack up against the best, that’s how we are looking at it.
“Stade are also almost top of their tree and they beat Toulouse, then it’s Leinster the week after, the perennial finalists and La Rochelle the current champions, not to mention Stormers, who are probably the best team in South Africa.
Denne historien er fra December 10, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Denne historien er fra December 10, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Ten-try Chiefs show Pirates no mercy
TEN-TRY Exeter inflicted the backlash from six successive defeats in their worst ever start to a Premiership season on a young Pirates side suffering their own problems in the Championship.
South America look to keep on building
AS Sebastián Piñeyrúa's historic six-year term as President of Rugby Sudamérica comes to an end, his replacement shows no signs of slowing down.
Scarratt excited by new pathway
ENGLAND centurion Emily Scarratt is delighted with the new women's BUCS programme which aims to provide a smoother pathway for young aspiring female players.
Baxter: I want to make things better
ROB Baxter will not be walking away from Exeter, the only club still looking for a Premiership victory this season, believing he can get the Chiefs back on track and he cannot bear the thought of anyone else doing the job.
Pearce walks in his father's footsteps
PADDY Pearce is living a dream after emulating his father and great-uncle by playing for the club he supported as a boy, Bristol.
New England group will cause uncertainty
SO JUST when we thought that everything was getting sorted between the RFU, the clubs and players, a number of new agreements and a new group raises its head.
Galthie turns his sights to the future
FRANCE head coach Fabien Galthie offered the clearest hint yet of Les Bleus' future on Wednesday, when he released 19 players back F to their clubs for the ninth and final Top 14 round before the international break.
Gilmore has tightened up our defence - Anderson
CAMERON Anderson has hailed the impact made by defence coach Jason Gilmore, below, since he arrived at The Stoop in the summer.
Ampthill given 11-try lesson in class from Bath
BATH secured a thumping away success in the opening match of their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign against Ampthill at Dillingham Park.
New faces take the plaudits for Saints
NORTHAMPTON handed out a thorough lesson to a tame Leicester team in this one-sided East Midlands derby to launch the Premiership Cup.
