Sale wing Steve Hanley provides his views on all the latest things Sharks.

The Calvisano game was a good morale booster, we knew we had to score tries and we did just that.

We were able to play a very different game to the one we usually play in the Premiership because we needed as many tries as possible and had to play a more open game to get them.

In the Premiership, once you've got four tries you can just close games out but it's not the same in Europe, you need as many as you can get because the groups are always likely to be tight and tries scored could be the decisive factor.

You just don't get the chance to play that kind of game in the league so it was really enjoyable to be involved in it and it's always good when you can enjoy your rugby.

I was just disappointed I didn't score myself. I couldn't buy a try from anywhere but if things had gone differently, Philippe reckons I could've had five tries in the course of the game.

There were a couple of times where I didn't get passes on the overlap and Chris Mayor actually apologised to me after one occasion when he didn't pass it. He was in two minds about what to do because if my man had stuck with me, he would have had a clear run to the line, so he just went for it.

In different circumstances I could've done better but it's not about that, I was just pleased to be involved and play my part in the win.

I spoke to Warren Spragg after the game and he was just talking to me about the difference in the level of rugby being played here and in Italy.

It made me realise that we play at such a high level week in, week out and it's great to be involved in that. The English game has received a lot of criticism recently but it can't be matched for intensity.

Talking about that, this week's game against Wasps promises to be a real battle.

A few of their players will definitely be looking to prove a point.

Lawrence Dallaglio has had injury problems and was left out of the England squad so he'll be keen to put in a good performance and then there's Simon Shaw as well, who has also been dropped by England.

That'll just push these guys to do even better. Shaw in particular is a very good player and I rank him as one of the best second rows in the business, he's always impressed me when we've played against them.

They look like they will have a full pack out so it's going to be extremely difficult and they'll definitely be out for revenge after losing in the Premiership semi-final last season.

These games are always a bit spicy anyway, they always are when two top teams meet. The last three or four years it has been Sale, Leicester and Wasps at the top and each of us is always desperate to make sure we beat the teams up there with us, especially at home.

We have got to step up level of performance really. This part of the season helped us at the end of the last campaign because we put on a good showing during the international periods.

It was a major factor in us getting that home semi-final and it can't be underestimated.

The season before last the only game we won during the international periods was London Irish away and that was a 9-6 thriller! We lost the other five and that made it difficult for us at the end of the season.

But it was a totally different scenario last time round and that was crucial to our success, so we simply cannot afford any mistakes.

We are maybe struggling a bit with resources in the back row, where we've lost a few players but I think we are definitely as prepared as we were last year and maybe even stronger than last year, we are confident about our chances.