‘If you don’t think like a top-four side, it’s not going to happen’
Steve Diamond is setting the bar high as Sale aim to build on superb start to season against Quins
The northern uprising has been the most heartening feature of this Premiership season and Sale have every intention of emulating Newcastle’s early feats as they head into the Twickenham heartland tonight and try to replicate the blistering form that destroyed Gloucester last week.
With eight tries, their highest match-points total (57) in 13 years, wings Byron Mcguigan and Denny Solomona sharing five tries to put them at the top of the Premiership rankings, and the team scoring the most points (153) after five rounds, Sale have helped make a mockery of the notion that rugby in the northern reaches is an outpost in need of replenishment.
Those Sale stocks have been nourished by themselves: by the new (June 2016) ownership of Simon Orange and Ged Mason and by the shrewd recruitment of gnarled director of rugby Steve Diamond, that has brought the likes of former Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, Scotland No8 Josh Strauss and one-time Wallaby enfant terrible James O’connor to Manchester to add spice and intelligence to the Sale revival.
It has been a self-help process. The Sharks have certainly been easy on the eye. “We’ve got loads of pace out wide, so why not use it? You’ve got to play entertaining rugby up here in football-mad Manchester or no one will come and watch,” Diamond said.
“Look, we’re going to give it a go this season. It’s a fun place to be around up here. The environment is all set for us to perform. We won’t go daft with our money but I can tell you that there will be no more mediocre players coming to Sale. They’ll all be hand-picked and here for a reason.
“I’m sick of people belly-aching about not being able to afford big squads. We run on 34 players. You can make it work on that. We bring young players through, such as the Curry boys [young England flanker Tom, currently injured, and his twin brother Ben] and sign others that we know will add value.
“Faf has been a revelation, James is just getting it together after injury [he is on the bench tonight], the wings are scoring tries no matter who I pick out there and the boys up front are doing the hard graft. So, yeah, it does bode well. But, and we’re all aware of this, we need to be consistent.
“We’re a good team on paper and we just need to put that on the pitch, week in, week out.”
Diamond acknowledges that tonight will be an important reference point. Sale have been one of the Premiership’s switchback sides, sending a few streaks across the skyline only to fizzle out. They won the title in 2006, with Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and Sebastien Chabal in their pomp, but have flitted in and out of mid-table prominence since.
Money has invariably been tight and that shoestring lifestyle has played out accordingly. Sale have made Europe in four of the seven years Diamond has been in charge but their aim is to bring an end to their fluctuating fortunes. The Harlequins match will round off the first six-match block of Premiership activity and a portent of what lies in store as the season heads into winter.
“We lost at home to Newcastle so we need to replace that defeat with a win on the road,” said Diamond. “We’re sound at home but getting those points away is what helps shape your season. Our aim is top four, top six for Europe as a consistent minimum. If you don’t get out there and state your aims, think like a top-four side, it’s not going to happen. And if we don’t make it come to pass, then Sale might as well revert to being a feeder club for others. And that ain’t going to happen. We’ve been around too long to allow that.”
Diamond, a former hooker for the club, is a stalwart figure. The squad have a new feel, though, determined to make their mark. Namibia-born Mcguigan, 28, who scored a hat-trick against
Gloucester, has served his time at Borders, Glasgow and Exeter, and has rekindled international aspirations after representing Scotland Sevens five years ago.
Mcguigan has to fight his corner just to get on the Sale team-sheet but is set on pushing himself into Scotland contention. “I’ve had a dream start,” he said. “At the back end of last season, I hit some form and I’ve managed to carry it over. My focus is to do well and end up on the radar for Scotland. That is a big goal for me.
“My job is to finish off sequences by scoring tries. The coaches have done a good job to break down our attacking structure and to make sure everyone knows their role so that when guys do come in, such as Faf and James, they can slot in and add value. Now we need to keep at last Friday’s level. Quins is a big game. We’re travelling with a lot of confidence after last weekend.”