Faf: Sharks have to build on Saints win
VICTORY HAS BOOSTED SALE AHEAD OF WARRIORS CLASH, SAYS DE KLERK
FAF De Klerk says Sale Sharks will step out for battle at Worcester Warriors tonight buoyed by the belief and confidence instilled by last weekend’s 18-15 win over Northampton Saints.
After being edged out in a number of close Premiership encounters, the Sharks showed their character by digging deep to both overcome the challenge of a committed Saints – and prove they can edge the tightest of matches.
De Klerk and his colleagues face an equally tough test at Sixways against a transformed Warriors who have recorded impressive back-to-back wins over both Northampton and Leicester.
But the South African scrumhalf says Sale are eager to build on the momentum of the Saints win.
“I think the Northampton win was really important for us especially as it was such a tight match,” he told the Sale Sharks website.
“We’ve been through a few close games recently which haven’t gone our way so it was great to get that turnaround and seal the win to help build some momentum.
“Hopefully, we can build on that this Friday and keep posting those Ws on the board.
“The important thing is that when you are maybe not playing at your best you can still find a way to win and we did that on Saturday. I think it shows how we are growing as a team and that’s a great quality to have.
“One thing that has been good for us this year is that we have picked up a lot of bonus points it is almost like having recorded another league win.
“And because the table is so tight, if we can pick up another victory on Friday then we could bump up a few more places in the table.
“Obviously, Worcester are playing very well - they have picked up back-to-back wins over the past two weeks and are playing with a lot of confidence so we know it will be another tough game for us.
“It just shows how tight the competition is but we are looking forward to the challenge.”
Steve Diamond has made three personnel changes to the match day 23 for tonight, with AJ MacGinty, Byron McGuigan and TJ Ioane all returning from international duty to replace James O’Connor, Marland Yarde and Marc Jones respectively
Other notable changes to the line-up include James O’Connor, who is set to make his debut at full-back for Sale, and Rohan Janse Van Rensburg who starts at inside centre over Mark Jennings this weekend.
Yarde, Josh Beaumont, Will Addison, Tom Curry and Johnny Leota are all out injured.