Analysis: Faf de Klerk has turned Sale into Premiership contenders
Since returning from the Autumn break Sale have lost just one of their last six matches in the Premiership, winning four and drawing one after starting the season 2-4, stuck in the thick of a relegation battle.
Sale has climbed into 5th position, firmly in playoff contention after knocking over 4th-placed Gloucester and 2nd-placed Saracens, proving their credentials.
The side has been completely transformed with the arrival of the Du Preez South African contingent, as well as the return of Springbok halfback Faf de Klerk who missed the first six games of the season with international duty.
Arguably no player is more valuable to Sale than Faf, who possesses game-changing ability on both sides of the ball. He is the best defensive halfback in the world, with a valid case for the title of the very best based on his work in the last twelve months.
Whilst his pass possesses more velocity than pinpoint accuracy, his dynamic running game changes the way defences have to play, his box kicking controls Sale’s territory and his disruptive defensive work causes crucial turnovers. His physicality is unmatched by any half in the world, leading to size-defying hits.
His halves partnership with Robert Du Preez has started to ignite Sale’s stable of international outside backs in James O’Connor, Chris Ashton, Denny Solomona and Byron McGuigan, while the addition of the Du Preez twins to a pack already boasting Jono Ross and Tom Curry is one of the more mobile, abrasive units in the competition capable of winning possession at every breakdown.
Sale has found a balance and game plan that is able to win against anyone in the competition, with Faf de Klerk a central figure bringing it all together.
Basic Exit Plays
Sale’s commitment to completing a good exit has been critical over this run of success.
With Faf’s box kick, Sale can usually land the ball around halfway, keeping it in play, forcing the opposition to retreat and transition into attack. Against Bristol, they did kick directly into touch to take away counter opportunities from Charles Piutau, but against others, they have generally kept the play alive.
With many capable jackalers in the side, combined with disruptive forces of de Klerk and Tom Curry, Sale can withstand phases and eventually turn the ball over.
They are 4th in the competition in turnovers won, and Curry leads all players with 16 turnovers by himself. Curry’s rush defence constantly causes negative gain line plays for the opposition, hammering runners to a standstill and backward.
Instead of clearing deep in the own goal area for an opposition lineout 30-40 metres downfield, de Klerk’s leg can land the ball anywhere between 45-60-metres downfield, giving Sale plenty of room to bring defensive pressure over multiple phases as the opposition works their way back.
It’s simple yet effective and plays to the strength of their ruck work. The amount of times they turn teams over after box kicking is astounding, especially in this run since November.
De Klerk’s own blitzing around rucks is still causing havoc and contributing to big plays in the middle third of the field.
As Saracens pressed forward into Sale territory at a critical junction in the match on the weekend, de Klerk used his blitz to ‘sack’ reserve halfback Ben Spencer and cause a knock-on, winning a scrum feed.
His timing is exquisite considering the length of the path he travels to get to the halfback, arriving at just the right time to strip Spencer of the ball.
With seven minutes left on the clock, de Klerk’s exit kick gave Saracens possession around halfway again.
Faf blitzes a second time, this time from an A defender position and gets a wrap around Spencer, bringing him to the ground.
Reserve flanker Ben Curry is the first man over the ball and is unlucky not to win a penalty for holding on.
Sale’s defensive fortitude is critical to their overall game, while they don’t tear apart teams on attack and rack up high scores, they get out of their own danger zones and piggyback that momentum down the field by causing turnovers or winning penalties in defence, which is driven by players like Curry and de Klerk.
Shark attack
With the addition of sharpshooter Rob Du Preez at flyhalf, Sale keeps the score ticking taking kickable three’s, while the backs are starting to click into gear to provide enough strikes to get by.
The team’s shape is slowly coming together using a 5-3 width pattern with Rob du Preez playing direct at first receiver and James O’Connor as a second receiver in behind a two-man pod, while a lot of the set-piece attack utilizes de Klerk’s speed from the base with a lot of halfback running schemes.
Against Saracens, they played a ‘21’ pattern perfectly using the threat of de Klerk’s running game to open up a switch play around the ruck.
After two phases the same way, Sale sets up the switch for centre Sam James (13) and Denny Solomona (14).
Saracens have folded quite well and have their right-side defence set well with numbers and spacing, but the far side is rather thin and ripe for a switch.
Sale uses the running threat of de Klerk to pull defenders the wrong way, before using James and Solomona dropping under.
The key player for Saracens is lock George Kruis (5), who is drawn across in pursuit of de Klerk, even though he was not required to do so.
The plight Saracens of Kruis is better illustrated by the high shot, with his decision to leave his role as a guard to fold over a critical error.
Schalk Burger (7) pushes in to cover his absence but the space is too much for one man to cover with the speed of James and Solomona coming around the corner.
James does a perfect job of drawing Burger into contact and playing Solomona on his inside shoulder, while Kruis and other tight forwards struggle to get back across to cover.
Solomona explodes through the gap and beats the cover defender in the second level to score a 50-metre breakaway try, but the original running threat of de Klerk helped to open the hole.
The livewire halfback is always aware of his options and likes to deceive the defence in multiple ways, which gives Sale’s attack deception.
He will often use his box kick setup to sell the kick before taking off or passing to the open side and attacking a defence with its guard down.
These ‘box-fakes’ have opened up space for Sale and resulted in large gains down the opposite touchline through the backs as most sides pre-empt the kick and the defence starts to retreat in anticipation.
Other subtleties he has in his repertoire include a perfect sense of drawing the defence offside with a delayed release. It’s not frequently used but he uses it every so often to throw out the timing of the line speed.
Watch the slight fake below, which throws out the timing of the defensive line allowing Sale’s backs to play directly with more time to run onto the ball. Faf de Klerk is there again to back up and receive the final pass and score a brilliant team try.
A scintillating @SaleSharksRugby try! ?
Ashton, O'Connor and De Klerk combine beautifully to cross over for the visitors ? pic.twitter.com/Cet0wsIIX7
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 29, 2018
His impact as a playmaker in defence and attack can be no better illustrated than the massive hit he made on Gloucester midfielder Billy Twelvetrees.
Offering pressure from the scrum base, de Klerk diagnoses Gloucester’s exit carry and rushes out at Twelvetrees meeting him head on.
The contact dislodges the ball and Sale recover the ball to go hot on attack on Gloucester’s own five-metre line.
De Klerk plays one wide runner before firing a long cutout ball over the top to the open path of Denny Solomona who scores in the corner to stretch Sale’s lead to 30-10.
De Klerk’s return and Sale’s run of form is no coincidence – he is changing the game with his playmaking on both sides of the ball, something that puts him into the conversation of the world’s best.
The Sharks have transformed into a Premiership contender with him, and with other quality additions, they are a side that can make a run for playoff qualification and cause some real headaches this year.
With Faf de Klerk recently making a four-year commitment to the club, they have a cornerstone player to be in the heavyweight mix for years to come.
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments