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Pat Sanderson

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ollybarkley

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So what did ever happen to Pat Sanderson. I do realize that he wasn't exactly the greatest rugby player of his generation or anything, but I did thing he was somewhat handy at a time. He seemed to go from England Captain to dropped from the side in record time. He seemed a pretty handy player, played all 3 backrow positions, had some good handling skills, had a bit of turn of pace.

Can anyone share any info as to what happened/where he is now?
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
Patrick Harold Sanderson (born in 6 September 1977 in Chester) is an english international rugby union player who plays flanker for Worcester, which he is currently captain of. He is the brother of Alex Sanderson.

His early rugby union career blossomed at Bury Grammar School, Littleborough RUFC and then at Kirkham Grammar School and included his first international cap for the England 16 Group Schools team. He joined Manchester Sale (now Sale Sharks) in 1996 and was capped by England U21s and England A. He moved to Harlequins where he played in the 2001 Powergen Cup final, when Quins lost to Newcastle by 30-27.

Pat was first capped on England’s 1998 southern hemisphere tour as a 20-year-old, facing New Zealand twice and South Africa, and he won another three caps on the 2001 tour to North America.

At the end of the 2003-04 season he moved to newly promoted Worcester Warriors, as captain, he was instrumental in ensuring the Warriors remained in the Premiership. He started every Premiership game last in 2004/5 and Pat was nominated for Zurich Player of the Season 2004-05 and the PRA Players’ Player of the Year. This consistency resulted in an England recall for the Autumn test opener against Australia in November 2005. Despite some impressive performances in the 2005 Autumn Internationals and being made captain for England's tour to Australia in 2006, he fell out of favour with England when Brian Ashton replaced Andy Robinson as coach in late 2006 and has not featured since.

Sanderson is also a high-calibre sevens player, having made his debut back in 1997 in Hong Kong. In 2003-04 he played in six of the IRB World Series rounds including the three wins in South Africa, Hong Kong and London. He also helped England win the prestigious Hong Kong event. In 2002 he was also a member of England’s Commonwealth Games squad in Manchester.

Pat is the Chairman of the Professional Rugby Players’ Association and he is well placed to understand the problems players face, particularly with injuries. A fractured shoulder, two damaged knees and prolapsed disc have all kept him out of the game at different stages.

Sanderson committed his future to Worcester on the eve of the 2007/08 season by agreeing a new two-year deal, which will see him remain at Sixways until 2010.[/b]
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Taken from Wikipedia!
 
Wow.. so it was Ashton that flushed him down the international rugby toilet.

Seems so odd, considering that he has such a set of skills that are similiar to how Ashton liked to play.. he had ball skills and thus could thrive in open rugby environments.

Funny how political selection can be at times.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Nov 4 2008, 09:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
I thought he was dropped because he was crap.[/b]
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So did I. Same goes with Lewis Moody, but I keep seeing his name appear on 606 as someone who should be in the England squad (I think he's injured from what I have read). I don't get it, he was never that good, but surely he must be pure ass by now.
 
Ah, but Moody was hyped up by the Meeja to be the next Richard Hill and apparently it was his god-given right to be brilliant just because Neil Back was also at Leicester. He was one of the original international call-ups at the beginning of the Holy-Trinity era.

While in fairness he can put in some reasonable performances, the one-eyedness of the great uneducated always ignore the number of penalties he gives away, sloppy handling errors and missed tackles he regularly has something to do with on any given international fixture.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Nov 4 2008, 03:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Ah, but Moody was hyped up by the Meeja to be the next Richard Hill and apparently it was his god-given right to be brilliant just because Neil Back was also at Leicester. He was one of the original international call-ups at the beginning of the Holy-Trinity era.

While in fairness he can put in some reasonable performances, the one-eyedness of the great uneducated always ignore the number of penalties he gives away, sloppy handling errors and missed tackles he regularly has something to do with on any given international fixture.[/b]
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It's great watching him hurl himself about like a suicidal kangaroo though. Love watching him play. Moody for England! ;)
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cyRil of Ospreylia @ Nov 4 2008, 07:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Moody being picked over Martyn Williams in NZ 2005 was a total disgrace.[/b]
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Hopefully justice may well be served on this Lions Tour (fingers cross)
 
Moody's passion is not in doubt.

What is in doubt is both his ability as a player and his temperament. It is because of the likes of Grewcock, Moody and Worsley that we are so cautious when it comes to blooding in players whose temper is in serious question like Hartley.
 
Sadly however the meeja will always stick their wick in on that front; Hartley for example is an aggressive player, but then again he's no worse then Steve Thompson in his pomp. Only one of them however has ever been labeled as a thug because of a few choice words at the wrong time (oh, and because he dare compete for a ball against <strike>Dallaglio mk. 2</strike> Haskell, therefore fully deserves to be banned from playing for life). Much in the same manner, Moodys bad behavior and poor discipline is often understated as was Neil Backs before him.

Maybe this was/is down to the old ethos/mentality of "just get on with it and get 'em back later" whenever somebody was cheating was still in the game up until the last few seasons. Now however we have the likes of Shawn Edwards and Eddie Jones started complaining to anyone who'd listen about anything and everyone. This has created the "cite him" attitudes when anyone dares make a legal tackle. Just look at James Haskell.

Before we know it, we'll have players diving.

In summary, Hartley isn't as much of a thug as he's made out to be (still a thug, yes, but not nearly as bad as he's made out), while at the same time the game is getting softer.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teh Mite @ Nov 5 2008, 09:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>
Sadly however the meeja will always stick their wick in on that front; Hartley for example is an aggressive player, but then again he's no worse then Steve Thompson in his pomp. Only one of them however has ever been labeled as a thug because of a few choice words at the wrong time (oh, and because he dare compete for a ball against <strike>Dallaglio mk. 2</strike> Haskell, therefore fully deserves to be banned from playing for life). Much in the same manner, Moodys bad behavior and poor discipline is often understated as was Neil Backs before him.

Maybe this was/is down to the old ethos/mentality of "just get on with it and get 'em back later" whenever somebody was cheating was still in the game up until the last few seasons. Now however we have the likes of Shawn Edwards and Eddie Jones started complaining to anyone who'd listen about anything and everyone. This has created the "cite him" attitudes when anyone dares make a legal tackle. Just look at James Haskell.

Before we know it, we'll have players diving.

In summary, Hartley isn't as much of a thug as he's made out to be (still a thug, yes, but not nearly as bad as he's made out), while at the same time the game is getting softer.[/b]
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Some players have a definite 'edge' to the way they play the game and it often borders on illegal but when you try to take that part of them away they become lesser players.
I like Hartley even if he can be a bit of a loose cannon at times and to be honest that's one of the things I like about him.
 
That may well be and I totally sympathise with Hartley as he's definitely more well behaved since getting therapy (and I mean that seriously) but we're very quick to forget the gross amount of points that were being shipped out only two years ago by England players.

Today, we lambast the likes of Danny Grewcock and Lewis Moody because they were crap, and rightly so. But we've forgotten that it was their indicipline, their tendency to be a "bit of a loose cannon" and so on. The media may have downplayed their behavior but the official of the refereeing variety definetely didn't and as a result we've always had to fight two opponents on the field: the team in front of us and the general indicipline and impulsive nature of our players.

In a way, the media downplaying what Back, Dayglo, Moody and Worsley did only exascerbated matters. At one point I remember that the only person in a prominent position in the media who saw what was happening was Brian Moore whose diatribes against the incredibly annoying (and English) obsession with shipping 12 to 15 points a game in easy penalties was usually the lone voice in a sea of mediocre yes men and hand wringers.

As I said, I like Hartley and would love him in the side but he has to learn the vital lesson: how to behave in front of a referee...

..and you know what? We're already seeing players diving in the hell hole that is the French Top 14...
 

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