SALE Sharks fans have been issued with a call to arms as their French general Philippe Saint-Andre leads the club on the latest stage of his glorious revolution.

Saint-Andre arrived at the club two seasons ago pledging to bring silverware to the success-starved club, and his mission moves up a gear at the weekend with a semi-final clash against three-time winners London Wasps.

The former France skipper brought the European Challenge Cup home last season but saw his side narrowly beaten in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup last month.

He then saw his charges finish top of the Guinness Premiership and secure their play-off semi-final home tie with a late surge against Bath at their Stockport fortress a fortnight ago.

Saint-Andre said: "Finishing top of the Premiership has been a fantastic achievement. But we haven't yet won the Guinness Premiership.

"Without the trophy, the club will not receive the recognition it deserves in years to come as the best team in England for 2005/06 season.

Recognition

"One or two of my players had suggested last week that they felt that they should get recognition for finishing the season at the top of the league.

"I told them that finishing top shows great consistency and that they should be proud of their record, but that in sport it is trophies that matter and so we have won nothing at this stage.

"What I want is for Sale Sharks to be recognised Champions of England and that means us being the team that lifts the Guinness Premiership trophy at Twickenham."

And to help him and his players achieve their goal, tenor Martin Toal, a Sale Sharks fan, has recorded a version of the hit song `Do You Hear The People Sing?' from the musical Les Miserables, which he will perform before kick-off on Sunday at Edgeley Park.

Martin, who has performed at various major sporting events, said: "I was looking for a rousing, battle cry of an anthem with an easy melody suited to mass singing. `Do You Hear The People Sing?' is one the biggest and best songs of this type ever written, and the original lyrics just struck a chord with me as a Sale Sharks fan.

"It is a revolutionary call to arms as the rebels are preparing to storm the barricades.

"Sale are a team taking on the old established powers, storming the barricades of the likes of Leicester, Wasps and Bath. We bill ourselves as playing rugby that sets your heart racing, and this song urges the beating of your hearts to echo the beating of the battleground drums.

"And, of course, we are led by our own adopted French Revolutionary Philippe Saint Andre, so the historical theme seemed spot on too!"

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