Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson hailed George Ford as “a little pocket of calm amid the chaos,” after his team reached its first Gallagher Premiership final in 17 years.

England international fly-half Ford was a dominant presence, guiding Sale home against his former club, Leicester, in an absorbing playoff clash at a sold-out AJ Bell Stadium.

Ford, who went off injured in last season’s Premiership final when Leicester beat Saracens – Sale’s opponents at Twickenham on May 27 – kicked three penalties and a conversion.

𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 🔥

Almost 3,000 northern voices are already building up the sea of blue at Twickenham, #SharksFam!

We need you all one last time this season, let's show the south how we do things up here!#NorthernRugbyMatters

— Sale Sharks 🦈 (@SaleSharksRugby) May 18, 2023

But he also epitomized Sale’s resilient attitude against a Tigers team that pushed them all the way, before going down to a 21-13 defeat.

“They are a special group, these boys, and they had to drink deep from the well today,” Sanderson said. “They stuck to the task, and George Ford drove that – a little pocket of calm amid the chaos.

“You need to be physically up to the task, you need a heart, you have really got to want it. What more can you ask for?

“I am proud of how they stuck at it and just got better at the basics as the game went on.”

A super sweet @SaleSharksRugby score 🙌

🎥 @premrugby pic.twitter.com/huBq2DxVp6

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) May 16, 2023

Sale now faces Saracens in pursuit of a Premiership crown they last claimed when players such as Jason Robinson, Charlie Hodgson and Sebastien Chabal ruled the roost.

And for Sanderson, that means preparing a team to try and beat a club he spent several successful seasons with as an integral part of Mark McCall’s coaching staff.

Sale, though, looks set to be without captain Ben Curry, who was carried off during the first half after suffering a hamstring injury.

“He will get a scan tomorrow,” Sanderson added. “He is on crutches, and he got carried off. We will see tomorrow, but I doubt if he will make the final.

“I spent the major part of my life down there with those guys (at Saracens), but I am so engrained in this here that it feels like I have been here forever. It adds a little bit more spice.”

Wings Tom Roebuck and Arron Reed scored tries for Sale, but Leicester held a 13-10 lead with 24 minutes left, before the Ford-inspired Sharks turned things their way.

A battling Leicester performance delivered a second-half try for wing Harry Potter, plus eight points from the boot of 39-year-old Jimmy Gopperth, who was a late replacement for World Cup-winning South African fly-half Handre Pollard.

Tigers’ interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth will join the England setup of his former Leicester boss Steve Borthwick this summer, and a second successive Premiership final appearance proved just beyond the east Midlanders.

📸

Match Gallery ➡️ https://t.co/5jnRcy3qLd pic.twitter.com/0cuNKasQK5

— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 15, 2023

“It was a close game, small margins,” Wigglesworth said. “We just couldn’t find the advantage to tip it in our favor. We stuck in the contest, and we can’t fault the spirit and fight in the group. I am incredibly proud to have been asked to lead this group. I am so grateful for how they (Leicester) have treated me.”

And on Pollard’s absence, he added: “We only made that call this morning.

“Handre hadn’t trained for the last couple of training days. It was a calf issue, which is incredibly painful, but it can also clear up at a moment’s notice.”