Sale in talks with Leone Nakarawa over possible switch
April 8, 2018 - Nanterre, Hauts de Seine, France - Racing 92 Lock LEONE NAKARAWA in action during the French rugby championship Top 14 match between Racing 92 and RC Toulon at U Arena Stadium in Nanterre - France..Racing 92 Won 17-13. (Credit Image: © Pierre Stevenin via ZUMA Wire)
Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has revealed the club are in negotiations with Fiji international lock Leone Nakarawa over a potential switch to the Greater Manchester outfit.
The second-row was suspended by French club Racing 92 after making a delayed return from the Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Nakarawa is seen by Diamond as a possible short-term replacement for Josh Beaumont and new signing Lood de Jager, who have been sidelined with long-term injuries.
“We are looking for a high-quality lock,” Diamond said. “He’s apparently gone missing but we’ve tracked him down and we’re in negotiations at the moment.”
Sale coped well with those absentees on Saturday as they claimed a comfortable 25-15 triumph over La Rochelle in the Champions Cup.
Winger Chris Ashton scored a competition record-extending 40th try but the Premiership club made hard work of securing their first win of this year’s tournament against indisciplined opponents who had one man sent off and two others sin-binned.
"That's madness of a Vahaamahina level."
Absolutely stupid, and infuriatingly dangerous 😡
La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit is sent off for foul play in an altercation he had nothing to do with.
No place for that on a rugby pitch. Goodbye.#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/S9x2qbN2jc
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 24, 2019
France hooker Pierre Bourgarit was handed a red card three minutes before half-time for making contact with the eye area of Tom Curry, while lock Remi Leroux and prop Dany Priso saw yellow for technical infringements.
Curry, who was named man of the match, said he did not feel any pressure on his eye.
“I didn’t even know what was happening,” he said. “I felt a hand on my face but I’ll leave it to the officials.”
Centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg scored the opening try for the Sharks, who were also awarded a penalty try, while fly-half AJ MacGinty kicked four goals, but Diamond felt they ought to have enjoyed a bigger margin of victory, especially with the return of their World Cup duo.
“Faf (de Klerk) provides energy in training and gives us that spark with his ability to run at defences,” Diamond said. “Curry does the same, it’s great to have them back.
“I thought we could have done a bit better in some areas. We were a bit anxious when they were down to 13 men.
“We went off our assignments a bit by kicking and chipping the ball. If we had kept the ball in hand, we could have stressed them.
“But it’s our first time in three years in this competition and I’ll take the win.”