Jason Robinson has admitted he was as surprised as anyone by Sale's decision to appoint him as their next head coach. Sale announced yesterday that Robinson would take over from Kingsley Jones, who has himself replaced Philippe Saint-André as the team's director of rugby, at the end of the current season but Robinson told the Guardian he had never planned to go into professional coaching.

"It was a big surprise [to be offered the position] because I was already talking to Sale at the time about taking on some sort of ambassadorial role," explained Robinson, who spent seven years with Sale as a player after switching codes from rugby league in 2000. "Kingsley [Jones] has done a fantastic job as a coach and now as director he wanted to bring in someone he trusted and someone he thought could do a good job.

"I've been on record saying that I'll never go into coaching, but it seems that everything I say I will not do, I end up doing," continued Robinson, noting that in his younger days he had also insisted he would never play rugby union. "But when [Jones] spoke to me I just knew that it was the right thing to do."

Robinson, whose coaching experience to date is limited to a few short stints of grass roots work, acknowledged that he would need to put in "a lot of work" to be ready for the new season, and said he would be putting in phone calls to a number of his former coaches between now and then. Once he does take charge, Robinson suggested one of his first goals would be to build confidence in his players and help them to play the sort of open, attacking game that has become increasingly rare in this year's Premiership.

"I just think it's a crime, we've got so much talent, so much speed, so much flair in this league but players don't use it," said Robinson. "I don't claim to be the best player who ever played or anything like that but I was confident in what I had and I made the best of what I had. I had an absolute belief that whoever I was up against, I could beat people. If you can get guys going out with that mentality and that confidence I think that a lot can come of it."

One player Robinson may have to do without is the Luke McAlister, who is out of contract at the end of the current season and is expected to receive lucrative offers from more than one team in France. Robinson said he could not comment on whether McAlister would stay, but acknowledged it would be a big loss to the team if he did leave.

"Luke is a world-class player and he's been in exceptional form, so if that was to happen then obviously it would be disappointing," he noted. "But as a coach, coming into it, I'll have to see who's there when I come in and what we've got. That's how professional sport is and that's what you have to deal with."