Tom Roebuck signs two-year Sale extension with England recall firmly in his sights

Tom Roebuck has signed a two-year contract extension with Sale Sharks, keeping the England winger at his boyhood club until at least the end of the 2028/29 season. The deal extends an association that stretches back to the Sale academy, with Roebuck having made his senior debut in a PREM Rugby Cup defeat to Worcester in 2018.

Now 25, Roebuck has accumulated 114 appearances and 54 tries for the Sharks, cementing himself as one of the more dangerous finishers in the Gallagher Premiership. Director of rugby Alex Sanderson described him as possessing “an X-factor that very few other players have” and expressed confidence that his best rugby is still ahead of him.

The contract news comes during a difficult spell for Roebuck on two fronts. A calf strain has kept him out of Sale’s opening three rounds of the Premiership season, though he did play and score against Bath in the PREM Rugby Cup earlier this campaign. Internationally, he was among the players to suffer from England’s underwhelming Six Nations and was left out of Steve Borthwick’s original Nations Championship squad. He was subsequently added as cover when George Furbank required appendix surgery but did not feature.

Despite those setbacks, Roebuck is clear-eyed about what he wants next. “The coaches and I are aligned on how we want my career to pan out and a big part of that is playing for England,” he said. “I feel I’m in the best place, with the best people around me, to keep pushing forward.”

His attachment to the club runs deeper than ambition, however. “For me, Sale Sharks is home,” Roebuck said. “It’s the club I supported as a child, it’s where I’ve grown up and it’s all I know. I love it here and I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else.”

Roebuck also pointed to Sale’s recent near-misses — semi-final and final appearances in recent seasons — as motivation to push the club over the line. “I want to put my best foot forward and be part of the Sale team that goes one better and makes the next step,” he added.

Sanderson echoed that ambition, saying he was “buzzing” that Roebuck’s best years would be spent at the AJ Bell Stadium.