Diamond hails Sharks’ attitude

Editor

Sale Sharks boss Steve Diamond said the combative nature of his side's 36-7 win over London Irish had set the template for the rest of the campaign.

Denny Solomona claimed a brace of tries with Ross Harrison, Josh Charnley and Mark Jennings also touching down to secure Sale's first league win of the season.

It was just what the Sharks and their supporters wanted after the frustration of last Friday's narrow loss to Newcastle.

"I thought everyone turned up and if we can convert our opportunities like we did tonight I'll be happy," said the Sale director of rugby.

"We'd reassured the players in the week that there were no panic stations – we'd just lost to a better side at Wasps and we should have won last week against Newcastle, though that is easier said than done.

"It was about meeting the standards that we've set ourselves. Faf de Klerk and Jono Ross have lifted the tempo of our team since they joined us and last week no-one matched them – tonight everyone did.

"The set-piece delivered, our defence was outstanding and, as I said to our players, Irish are not a poor team – they defended well and a lot of our tries were really well worked.

"We had 14 opportunities to score tries against Newcastle and didn't score any, tonight we took our chances and that's all we ask them to do.

"If sides beat us when we play like that they are going to have to be a good team."

There were numerous positives for the Sale boss with all five tries coming from English talent with centre Jennings marking a towering individual display with a fine second-half try.

It was also a red letter day for fellow Lymm product Harrison who bagged his first senior try for the club on what was his 156th appearance.

And while England star Solomona caught the eye with his brace of tries, it was also a big night for fellow former Rugby League speedster Charnley who capped a fine all-round display by claiming Sale's fourth try to seal their bonus point win.

"Mark was a deserved man of the match. He's a good player, he can carry the ball and he's a good defender – he's violent and got something about him," Diamond added.

"Ross is a Premiership animal. He's just 25 but he has got over 100 games under his belt and is first on the team-sheet every week.

"It was also really good for Josh and he's adapting well here.

"We didn't rush him last year after he joined us. He's played in our A team for the past couple of weeks but he turns up and does his hard graft and he's a proper Northern lad.

"He's a top rugby player and he's now finding his feet with us and if he plays like that then he'll go a long way."