Diamond Rallies Troops With Half-Time Roasting

Faf De Klerk revealed a half-time roasting from Steve Diamond inspired Sale to victory over Harlequins in the Premiership Rugby Cup final.

- Ross Heppenstall

The Sharks beat Paul Gustard’s men 27-19 at the AJ Bell Stadium to lift their first trophy since becoming crowned Premiership champions in 2006.

Yet they needed the introduction of South Africa World Cup-winning scrumhalf De Klerk and England centre Manu Tuilagi to turn the game in their favour.

Curtis Langdon’s try was converted and a penalty from Rob du Preez put Sale 10-0 up before Quins hit back through James Chisholm’s try plus a conversion and three penalties from Marcus Smith.

But Sale were not to be denied as Dan du Preez scored in the final quarter before compatriot De Klerk scampered over late on to confirm the long-awaited success.

Asked about the half-time rollicking from Diamond, De Klerk said: “It was good to see the passion! He said he wanted us to stay calm but I think we needed a bit of that and it was good to see the boys react.

“It was a real tough game and for us to pull away at the end showed a lot of character from the boys.