Cueto's a Convert in the Brewer Revolution.

For a man with 41 England caps, 15 test tries and a World Cup final appearance under his belt Mark Cueto is rather more used to the plaudits than the critics but he, like the rest of his under-performing Sale Sharks teammates were in for a shock when Mike Brewer took over the helm during the summer. 

The former All Black flanker took one look at Sale’s major flirtation with relegation last season and made public his forthright views on the team he had taken over from Kingsley Jones, moved upstairs to Director of Rugby, and Jason Robinson, who has reverted to playing for lowly Fylde.

Sale’s attitude was all wrong, as was their training and preparation, according to Brewer, the former Leinster head coach and Scotland forwards coach. Moreover he appointed James Gaskell, the 20-year-old lock forward, as the new club captain, overlooking the considerable claims of the likes of Charlie Hodgson, Dwayne Peel and Cueto himself.

Last week’s demolition of Newcastle suggested the Brewer revolution is already working, especially as the Falcons went on to beat Wasps on Friday night. Today’s defeat at Saracens proved to be a truer test of the new look Sharks, but Cueto is an instant convert and admits, as much as it hurt, Brewer’s been correct in virtually every move he’s made.

“Look, last season we were just horrendous,” admits the England winger, fresh from playing his part in beating Australia in Sydney last June. “It went wrong from the start because we never recovered from losing Philippe Saint-Andre, our head coach, plus players of the calibre of Sebastian Chabal, Sebastian Bruno, Jason White and Juan Fernandez Lobbe. Then we lost Andrew Sheridan through injury as well, the bad results started coming thick and fast and we couldn’t get out of a rut. In hindsight Kingsley didn’t get the support he needed off the field which left him trying to do everything. It just wasn’t working.

“The easiest thing to have done was to have papered over the cracks because we escaped relegation, but that’s not good enough. Last season has been a massive kick up the backside for us. Don’t forget, we were Premiership champions only four years ago. We’re a club who should be in the top four, or at least top six, not surviving the drop by the skin of our teeth.

“So Mike’s come in, and brought Graham Steadman from rugby league with him as defence coach. He’s also said a lot of forthright comments about us which upset and hurt me at the time but, in all honesty, were absolutely correct. I guess I’m not used to a head coach talking so brutally but honesty is the lifeblood of rugby and we all needed shaking up because we weren’t even training properly last season and then, when we were in a relegation battle, we put our blinkers on.”

The next surprise was the appointment of Gaskell, a future England star who made a good, first impression last season. But Sale captain? “My immediate reaction was one of shock again,” Cueto says. “It’s only James’s second season, after all. But again, it’s Mike putting his stamp on the team and I completely understand why. The easy option would have been to have made Charlie or me or Dwayne captain. The fact that none of us were desperate to do the job makes it easier on James, plus he’s a top, top player who leads by example so it may prove to be an inspired choice. Certainly, judging by last week’s win over Newcastle, it looks that way.”

Nobody expects Sale to be winning silverware this season, but the Brewer revolution may prove enough to avoid any successive flirtation with relegation.