M ost people will tell you that winning is everything in a major final. There is scant room for background nuance on the scoreboard or in the record books.
Occasionally, though, there is a rare exception and this year’s Premiership final is arguably one of them. “What we’ve built matters,” stresses Alex Sanderson, leaning against the outside wall of Sale Sharks’ training centre this week. “Plenty of people have given up a lot to make this special, important and lasting.
That’s the key.” The 43-year-old Sanderson is as competitive as anyone, if not more so. He is not remotely suggesting Sale are ambivalent about beating Saracens in what promises to be a full-throttle confrontation.
But sometimes life really is as much about the journey as the destination. Sanderson’s Sharks are on a spiritual crusade that will not be solely defined by the result of their first Twickenham grand final in 17 years.