Sale Sharks: Blip or decline after season of strife for Prem club?

Sale Sharks' season lurches from promise to peril, raising questions about whether the club has slipped from premiership contenders into decline. After two wins from their opening three games of the 2025-26 campaign, they looked set for more until trouble followed. A 65-14 hammering at Saracens in October saw teenage winger Noah Caluori score five tries on his first Premiership start. A 27-26 home defeat by Exeter Chiefs in November hinted at deeper issues as Sale surrendered a 20-point second-half lead, their first home loss of the season. The CorpAcq Stadium had been a source of strength, yet this term they won fewer at home than they lost, and a January defeat to Northampton Saints ended their top-four hopes with eight games remaining.