Sale is where the heart is for Sharks’ tough Diamond

Few men epitomise their club as Steve Diamond does Sale Sharks.

His association with the club began with an 11-year spell as hooker and continued off the pitch, where he has variously been assistant coach, chief executive, forwards coach and is now Director of Rugby.

He has also managed to fit a spell in charge of Russia and short stints at Saracens and Northampton into his career.

Sale is where the heart is though, and this afternoon Munster will come up against a side that is the embodiment of their leader: focused, hard-working and with occasional moments of inspiration.

This is not to say that Sale expect to win; far from it. They produced a minor miracle in even qualifying for this tournament and know they are rank outsiders in a Group that also contains Saracens and Clermont Auvergne.

“People call this the group of death, but that’s probably more for one of the others than for us,” says Diamond.

“We will give them a good run for their money but we’re not expected to do anything in the group.

“The reality with us is that these sides will come and if they’re not on their mettle we will be highly competitive and look to challenge them.”

Yet while Diamond may be playing down his side’s chances in public, he’s unlikely to be saying the same in private.

Such was the fury after last weekend’s hammering at Northampton that he refused to speak to the press. This has been a brutal week at the Sale training ground in Carrington, separated from Manchester City’s by a wire fence.

Diamond has been accused of being ruthless since returning to the club in 2011, particularly when he sacked Tony Hanks as Head Coach and then demoted Bryan Redpath to that role from his position as Director of Rugby.

Yet those decisions, and his transfer policy, have been justified by results.

Diamond mixed the stardust of big-name arrivals in Richie Gray and Danny Cipriani (the latter more of a success than the former) with lesser known players from Eastern Europe who have hit the ground running.

His knowledge of that part of the world is a legacy from his time as Head Coach of Russia, a job that he admits left a lasting impact on him as a man and coach.

“Those two years I spent knocking about the Eastern Bloc with Russia were very good,” he said back in April.

“I’ve got a pretty varied CV I think it’s fair to say – two coaching spells at Sale, sacked at Sarries, qualifying Russia for the 2011 World Cup and helping at Saints.

“One of the things I have learned is the importance of building a squad and not just the matchday 23.”

Yet he had to overhaul the entire structure of the club when he returned to Sale three years ago. Sale won the Premiership in 2006 but fell apart after the departure of Philippe Saint-Andre, narrowly avoiding relegation in both 2010 and 2013.

Since then they have moved to the AJ Bell Stadium from Stockport and, crucially, brought the best out of the mercurial Cipriani. The troubled wonderkid of the English game was in danger of being remembered as an unfulfilled talent until it all started clicking into place under Diamond, and his displays have been impressive enough to force him back into the international reckoning.

“Danny’s been playing well when we, as a team, haven’t been,” is Diamond’s take on a start to the season that has seen Sale win just two of their first six Aviva Premiership games.

“He’s played really well for us. He was man of the match even though we lost at Gloucester and is doing well when we haven’t got a dominant pack. Give him a dominant pack and he’s top drawer.”

And finding a dominant pack has been Sale’s problem this season. Their set piece – one of their principle strengths last season – is an area of concern and fell apart against Northampton.

Injuries have played their part, with star summer signing Nathan Hines a month through a 12-week lay-off with an arm injury. Captain and former All Black Dan Braid is also out while former Munster man Sam Tuitupou has not played this season due to ligament damage.

As Diamond admits, the European Rugby Champions Cup has arrived at just the right time. With Sale fighting hard to expand the sport in the north-west – and rugby officials in the area are furious Manchester will be hosting just one match in next year’s World Cup, even if it is England against Uruguay – they view the arrival of Munster as a wonderful opportunity rather than a challenge to be feared.

“When you get the opportunity to face Munster at home in the first game you know your locality will come out, they want to be part of it and it is good for rugby in the north-west,” says Diamond.

“And playing against these sorts of sides the one thing the coaching staff don’t have to do is get into motivation mode. That motivation is in-built for us so we just concentrate on doing the right things on the occasion.

“There is nothing better than taking our young lads, exposing them to that environment and seeing how they perform.”

Diamond sees today as a bonus, but he will expect his players to give as much as he does – everything.