Excitement builds at Edgeley Park
January 22 2010
Sale are ready for one of the toughest challenges in world rugby as they face a must-win Heineken Cup clash with French giants Toulouse.
The in-form Sharks go into their Pool finale knowing that only a maximum win will give them any chance of making it through to the quarter-finals.
Achieving such a feat under extreme pressure against any opposition would be a massive achievement but doing so against the most successful team in European history is surely a daunting task for Kingsley Jones and his charges.
While Toulouse have been crowned Heineken Cup winners on three separate occasions, the Stockport outfit have only once reached the last eight of the continent's premier competition.
The 1996, 2003 and 2005 champions are in fine form having already secured qualification for the knockout stages but that doesn't mean the Sharks will be happy to lay down and die come Sunday afternoon.
"Toulouse are one of the best sides in Europe and have the best record in the Heineken Cup over the years," said Sale's England wing Mark Cueto.
"They will arrive with a 4/5 record and will be looking to win to guarantee a home quarter final.
"We know we can't go through as a group winner but we could go through as one of the two runners up. Failing that the least we want from this weekend is one of the three quarter-final places in the Amlin Challenge Cup."
Sale had hoped to make Sunday's encounter a winner-takes-all affair but Cardiff Blues spoilt that particular party in Round 5.
Jones' men travelled to the Welsh capital knowing that a second win over the Blues would give even greater edge to what was already being billed as 'the biggest ever game of rugby in the north west'.
But Sale slipped to a 36-19 defeat that kept the Blues' own slim chances of qualification alive while handing the French the chance to qualify with a week to spare.
"It was a massive disappointment. We went their looking for a win to carry on the good work after beating Quins home and away in December," said Cueto of the defeat to the Blues.
"Credit to Cardiff though, who kept the scoreboard ticking over. When a player like Ben Blair is kicking everything and Leigh Halfpenny landed a penalty from near the halfway line, you know you have to be on form to beat them.
"Saying that, we had scored three tries to their two until stoppage time at the end of the game and that is really a bitter pill to swallow.
"Being brutally honest, we didn't perform as a team and we need to put the game behind us, but we also need to make sure we learn from it."
With thanks to the ERC