Sharks facing a ‘make-or-break’ six-game block
DIAMOND BELIEVES NEXT RUN OF MATCHES ARE CRUCIAL
STEVE Diamond believes Sale are entering a six-game block which could make or break their season.
The Sharks are already out of the Heineken Cup after finishing bottom of their group. But they return to Gallagher Premiership action at leaders Exeter tomorrow lying fourth. And next week they host Saracens in the Premier Rugby Cup semi-finals.
Domestically, it has been a solid start to the campaign, although a slightly inconsistent one. But with now five Premiership games coming up between now and the end of the Six Nations, director of rugby Diamond knows his side can start laying down a real marker for a top-four finish.
“We have now put Europe to bed, we now have Exeter in the league, Saracens in the cup and then four league games over the Six Nations period. If at the end of this block of five league games, we are in the top four then we are in a good place,” Diamond told the club’s website.
“If we have any vision of a being a top-four side, we have to be able to compete against sides that are up there and have been up there consistently and Exeter are formidable in that regard.
“We always play better when we have our backs against the wall a little bit. The next step for this team is to get some consistency.
“We win one, lose one, win one, lose one. We have to try and get a run going somehow and that will give us some belief, and that aids our performance.” Sale have already lost twice to Exeter this season in the Heineken Cup, so Diamond knows exactly what his side faces at Sandy Park tomorrow.
“We will look at what went well last time against them,” he said. Our squads haven’t changed much so we will try and pick a plan that will work against them.
“This weekend the forward pack has to turn up. Our stats are good across the board, apart from our line-out. If that operates at a reasonable level, we have a good chance.”
Sale go into the game on the back of a 45-7 hammering by Glasgow in the Heineken Cup, although it was a young Sharks side which was taken apart by the Warriors.
“We have to manage the squad, nobody feels the pain more than me when we get beat the way we did last weekend,” said Diamond.
“But we were out of the competition, playing a highly-motivated team who still had something to play for, we didn’t. We got three or four youngsters starting in the team who acquitted themselves really well.
“It is a learning curve. What has gone on with the Saracens debacle over the last two weeks, we are a side which operated off 50 per cent of the salary cap – 50pc – not over it or near it. Now we are up there, and it is about the management of the squad.
“We still have 35 players and we rely heavily on our kids. Some results won’t go our way and we know that.
“The learning curve is that next year, we can’t have results like we had last weekend, and everyone has been made aware of that.”