Lund: World Cup blow

Just getting Sale back on to the right tracks is my only concern at the moment.

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Sale flanker Magnus Lund has a point to prove to himself and Brian Ashton as he looks to put the disappointment of not being selected for England's World Cup squad behind him in the coming Guinness Premiership season.

The giant flanker was included in England's initial 47-man party for the World Cup in France, but did not make Ashton's final cut.

Instead of trying to help the world champions successfully defend their trophy, Lund will be back in the Sale colours hoping to prove a point.

Lund says that he is determined to play a starring role for the Sharks this season to prove that he was worthy of a World Cup spot.

"Brian explained his reasons," said Lund. "I was delighted with how I played in South Africa but you never take anything for granted.

"Being named in the 47 was great for me and to get cut wasn't the best news but I had to take the positives from it and get back in the groove.

"Straight away I wanted to get back to Sale and get back playing well again and show that I'm a good player.

"Just because I didn't get picked doesn't mean that I'm not a good player. I've got to prove that to myself."

Flying start

Sale will have Lund and fellow England reject Charlie Hodgson in their ranks as they look to have a flying start to the season.

"Sale obviously need to get back to where we were a couple of years ago, challenging for that play-off spot and the Premiership title," he said.

"And, if you look at the squad we've got, anything else is simply not good enough. Obviously Charlie coming back is going to help us massively."

Lund has one eye on getting back into England's colours for the Six Nations, but insists his priority is just playing well for Sale.

"Just getting Sale back on to the right tracks is my only concern at the moment," he said.

"If I can do that, I will see what comes of it. There are a few good back rowers here so I've got to focus on staying in the Sale team to start with.

"We have a lot of good young talent coming through. I know Hillys (Michael Hills) and Taity (David Tait) have had really good pre-seasons and worked hard.

"They have come on in leaps and bounds and I'm sure they are going to make a valuable impact this year.

"It's great for the squad if we can get that competition going, using the squad rotation and keeping players fresh. If we do that, we will be right up there.

"Last year we blooded players and hopefully we will see a bit of a benefit from that."