For amidst the many encouraging signs gleaned from the Edgeley Park side's pre-season programme, director of rugby Saint-Andre identified one huge black mark.
That shortcoming was the high number of handling and other unforced errors committed by his side, particularly during last Thursday's final warm-up match when Sale comfortably dispatched Lyon 39-14.
Against a spirited if somewhat one-dimensional French second division side, the Sharks were able to escape relatively unscathed despite the high error count.
But Saint-Andre knows in the harsh, unforgiving world of the Guinness Premiership, any repeat of such basic, needless mistakes will not go unpunished.
"In the first-half alone against Lyon we lost the ball nine times through knock-ons and other unforced errors which was a big concern," said Saint-Andre.
"The one pleasing thing was that the players listened to what we had to say about the problem at half-time and in the second half they played much better in terms of retaining the ball and cutting out those mistakes.
"And by keeping the ball through two or three phases of play it meant that we looked much more dangerous going forward. We need to remember those lessons for the new season."
Meanwhile, head coach Kingsley Jones drew plenty of comfort from the way Sale's pack look to be ironing out one key area of weakness last season - their line-out.
Against both Lyon and the preceding Edgeley Park friendly against Leeds, the Sharks forwards posed a far more coherent threat in the set-piece, a fact which wasn't lost on former Wales skipper Jones.
"I was very pleased with the way that our set-pieces worked against both Lyon and Leeds, particularly in the line-out," he said.
"We've had a lot more success in those areas in the last two games than we have had previously and we were able to steal a lot of ball off Lyon's line-out.
"Our scrum maybe creaked a little at times but Lyon are a very good scrummaging side so it was a good test in that area.
"Now we've still got the best part of a week in order to prepare for Newcastle. Of course you would always like more time, but we feel we are as ready as we'll ever be."
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