SALE Sharks winger Steve Hanley has painful memories of last season's semi-final play-off against Wasps.

Not only were the Sharks soundly beaten by the Londoners, he also broke his leg and spent the summer in plaster.

Hanley was not the only one to come off badly in the bruising contest for a place in the Twickenham final.

John Carter dislocated his shoulder in the same game, and Scotland hero Jason White broke his nose, an injury which ruled him out of the starting squad for the British Lions tour of New Zealand.

Hanley has battled back to full fitness and has recently hit top form again with a string of tries for the club he joined in 1998.

And now he believes Sharks are in a much better position to compete against Wasps, who have won the play-off final three years running.

Agony

Hanley said: "We were written off in last year's semi-finals and were also struggling with injuries. We came off second best, and I broke my leg.

"I was in agony and it took a lot of hard work to get back to full fitness.

"Since then, Sharks have come a long way and we have a much stronger squad.

"While I don't think we go into this game as outright favourites, we are in a much better position than at the same time last season."

Sharks sealed top spot when they beat Bath a fortnight ago and rounded things off with a nail-biting victory over Northampton Saints last weekend. But winning the league merely qualified them for a home tie in the play-off semi- finals at Edgeley Park this Sunday.

Leicester Tigers take on London Irish at Welford Road in the other semi.

THIS week's edition of Talking Sharks previews Sunday's big match, and looks back at the win at Northampton.

There is action from Lancashire's opening County Championship game against North Midlands and you can find out what goes on during an away day with the Sale Sharks Supporters Club.

Talking Sharks is a dedicated rugby union show produced by our sister TV station Channel M, which can be found free to air on channel 39 (615 mhz), NTL cable channel 26 and Sky channel 203.

Will Sharks beat Wasps? Have your say.

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