New Sale scrum-half Cillian Willis has urged his team-mates to go for the kill when the Sharks stage an Amlin Cup re-match with Agen this weekend.

Buoyed by last Thursday’s superb 29-14 win at the Stade Armandie, Sale’s hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals are back in their own hands despite losing their opening group game away in Brive.

With Agen’s hopes of reaching the last eight now dead in the water, Sale will be strong favourites in Sunday’s return clash with at Edgeley Park (3pm), with their confidence riding high after their cross-Channel exploits and their memorable win in Bath the previous weekend.

However, Willis, who produced a superb display in France last week, says it’s vital he and his colleagues show no mercy this weekend if Sale are to maintain their hopes of a third European Challenge Cup win to back up their triumphs of 2002 and 2005.

“We have really put ourselves in the mix for the knockout stage and win this weekend – it goes down to the final couple of matches and then anything can happen,” said the former Leinster number nine.

“At the moment, the key for us is to keep that momentum going.

“If you had said to us two weeks ago that we would go down to the Rec and then go across to France and get two wins, I think we all would have bitten your hand off.

“We’ll take massive confidence from it but it’s important not to get carried away.

“It’s massively important that we build on what we have been doing for the past couple of weeks and then hopefully improve on that.

“It’s always tough to win in France. All of the French teams are very proud of their home record and they push you all the way.

“So we were absolutely delighted to get the win over in Agen and to get the added bonus point really was an unexpected bonus.

Having moved to Edgeley Park from the current Heineken Cup champions, Willis is well versed with hugely successful squads.

And though he has only been with the Sharks for less than two months, the 26-year-old says he has seen enough already in his brief time in Stockport to recognise that Sale boss Steve Diamond has assembled all the raw ingredients to forge a force to be reckoned with.

“You can see the brand of rugby we are trying to play and if we manage to iron out our inconsistencies I think we will be extremely difficult to beat,” Willis added.

“There’s definitely a huge amount of talent in the dressing room. But the one thing with so many changes having taken place is that it can take time to settle down.

“There are teams out there where it has taken two or three years to really gel together so there is a bedding-in process that has to happen."

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