Sale Sharks will venture into uncharted waters if they beat Worcester at Edgeley Park this evening and elevate themselves to the top of the Zurich Premiership. Never before have the club won their first four league games, and at this rate Arsène Wenger will not be the only Frenchman threatening to eclipse Manchester's long-established sporting guru Sir Alex Ferguson.
Having married in Las Vegas this summer the wheel of fortune has certainly turned for the Sharks' director of rugby Philippe Saint-André, who is aware from experience that clubs who start well in the Premiership tend to prosper through the winter months.
Five of the top six sides after three games last season were still in the top half in May. In 2001-02, the last occasion Sale won their first three games, they ended up finishing second. A year ago, in contrast, they started sluggishly and failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup. There are exceptions to the rule - Wasps always start slowly - but momentum is a wonderful thing.
If much of the credit should go to Saint-André and his eye for recruiting talented non-English muscle, his players also deserve more recognition than they have yet received. No side averages more tackles per game so far than the Sharks, and all their eight tries have been scored by their backs.
No club has conceded fewer penalties and Sale, one of only three unbeaten sides along with Newcastle and Gloucester, are particularly prolific in the first 20 minutes of their games. Put it all together and an ominous picture starts to form: Saint-André's Sharks are powerful, purposeful and predatory opponents.
One of Saint-André's favourite managerial practices - early-season squad rotation - has also paid off. To beat Leicester on the opening weekend, make seven changes and still defeat Wasps away the following week was quite a statement, particularly as international players of the calibre of Trevor Woodman, Jason White and Bryan Redpath were all missing from the starting line-up in High Wycombe. Woodman has a back strain but should be fit to face Leeds next weekend.
Tonight, however, there are only three alterations to the side who beat Saracens at home last week, with Redpath back at scrum-half instead of Sililo Martens, Andy Titterrell resuming at hooker in place of Sébastien Bruno and Chris Day coming into the second row for Dean Schofield, the latter having started all three previous games.
In addition their newly-signed Tonga wing Josh Taumalolo is poised to make his debut off the bench after recovering from a calf strain, but Saint-André is adamant that winless Worcester should not be underestimated.
"We have started well but I was not very happy last week," said the former France wing and captain. "We have to make sure we get plenty of fast ball to our backs. Whilst we have won three out of three we have not yet secured any bonus points, which are crucial in the Zurich Premiership. We are expecting a tough game."
The Warriors' captain Pat Sanderson will be out to make an impression against his old club, but he must first do what no back-row forward in the league has yet achieved, namely get some change out of Sale's French international No8 Sébastien Chabal.
The bearded enforcer has settled swiftly in Cheshire with his family, lamenting only a shortage of decent French cooking, and sounds like a man relishing a new challenge having won 20 caps for his country. "I will be trying to play every game like I played the first two," he growled this week. Already his encounter with the physical Northampton pack at Franklin's Gardens next month is an enticing prospect.
Before then Chabal and Sale face the Tykes and London Irish. With fewer current England internationals than many of their rivals and an unbeaten league record in Stockport dating back to October 2003, the Sharks may take some reeling in.
