Mike Forshaw, the new defensive coach of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Sale Sharks is relishing the challenge of taking the team from being the whipping boys of the top flight to making them one of the meanest teams in the country.
The Sharks named Forshaw as the club’s new defensive coach last month and he arrived at the club with a hugely impressive CV, both as a player in the Rugby League and a mean minded defensive coach both in the Rugby League and the Rugby Union.
Forshaw was part of the all conquering Bradford Bulls side of the 1990s before going into coaching when he took up jobs at Rugby League clubs Wigan as well as Warrington before taking over the challenge in Rugby Union with Irish side Connacht but in taking over the Sale Sharks, Forshaw faces the biggest challenge of his career so far.
The Sharks defensive has been extremely porous in the last few seasons in the Premiership and also holds the distinct honor of shipping in more points than any other team in three of the last four seasons of the Premiership and that is something Forshaw will have to address this season.
However, rather than feeling overawed by the challenge in front of him, Forshaw is relishing it and cannot wait to work full time working with Steve Diamond, the club’s Director of Rugby and Bryan Redpath, the first team coach. And speaking of his task, Forshaw stated that he is really impressed by the discipline of the organization.
Forshaw mentioned that although he has been at the club just a month, he is visibly impressed by the desire of the Sale Sharks players to improve and the work ethic and environment in place at the club and it is a positive thing.