Sanderson is able to take final curtain

Alex Sanderson will walk out at Twickenham next month determined to close his Sale career on a high note, but harbouring a sense of regret that it had to end at all.

Regardless of whether Sale lift the Powergen Cup, Sanderson is going to be playing next season at Saracens, where he and team-mate Iain Fullarton will be reunited with Sale's former assistant coach Steve Diamond.

The England flanker insists he would have stayed with the team he joined from school were it not for the internal wranglings that have divided the close-knit club and broken up the partnership of Diamond and head coach Jim Mallinder.

After enjoying a comfortable semi-final win over Leeds on Saturday, Sanderson admitted: 'I'll be gutted to go away. I think I would still be here next season if Jim and Steve were signed earlier and we had a decent management structure in place. 'We're not a pay-cheque team, we're all mates and we play for each other, but the lads wouldn't like me talking about the turmoil we've had to go through since Christmas.' Mallinder will serve under new director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre next season, throwing up the prospect of him stepping down after delivering the Powergen Cup for the first time in the club's history.

Sale rocked Leeds with a relentless first-half display that all but ended the contest by half-time. Tries by Jason Robinson, Fullarton and Steve Hanley were added to by a late Chris Mayor clincher to reach their first Twickenham final since 1997. Sanderson joined the club that year, and he added: 'I want to go out on a high.'