Wihongi Snubs Toulon
Sale have insisted that their close season signings are nearly over as Karena Wihongi signed a two year deal with the club after a move to French side, Toulon, fell apart.
The prop joins the club this summer along with a number of other professionals who have now created a healthy Sale squad ahead of the new Premiership season. This can mean a number of positive things and should create healthy competition for places.
Sale have been one of the most active clubs during this close season and they have given themselves a much better chance of doing well in the Premiership next year. Club officials have already said that they hope the team will explode in the same way that Bath did a few seasons ago.
There are a few strings to Wihongi's bow and it will be important that he displays all of these at some point during the season if the club are going to go on and do well this year.
Off Field Positives
There are a lot of off field positives, which have been created for Sale due to the pro-active way they have approached this close season. They now have the biggest squad they have had for the last few seasons and this ultimately gives them a better chance of winning the Premiership.
It means that no one in the side is safe and if one player has a few off games then he will find himself out of the team very quickly. The depth of the squad will also be important if the side pick up a lot of injuries and suspensions over the course of the year.
There is generally going to be a competitive feeling among the squad because everyone will be fighting for a starting place at the beginning of the season. This means that performance levels are going to increase as players try and get one over on each other to start the new season in the first 15.
Player Attributes
Wihongi has a number of attributes, which will give him an edge over other players as he fights for a starting place. He is huge and physically intimidating and Sale will throw him in for these reasons alone. He can be used to break down opposition attacks and take out even the biggest of opponents.
He is very effective over short patches of turf in terms of passing and pace. This will be important because he will often be used to get the ball quickly into the middle of the pitch or out wide to wingers and flanking players.
Sale will also benefit from his experience because this is something that comes in luxury to most rugby sides. He can read the game and see things developing in front of him that others cannot. He can then get messages to other areas of the team in order to get them moving and adjusting based on what he can see.
Betting Advice
Wihongi plays at prop and because of this and his size he is never going to burst forward with venom and score a millions points for the team. You are better off trying to focus on any statistical bets that you can access such as assists or passes during a game.
If you want to bet on Sale then go for it because the club are shaping up well. They are still not as strong as one or two other sides in the division but they are a much better unit and side than they were before the close season kicked in.
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