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'I think the lads did Steve proud. He put this squad together. Hopefully he was watching and enjoyed it'
Sale head coach Paul Deacon said his team had done former director of rugby Steve Diamond proud after they ended a tumultuous week with a 26-14 defeat at the hands of Toulon.
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Diamond left the club he has been at for the last 10 years on Tuesday and it gave Deacon – the new man in charge – just a handful of days to prepare for Heineken Champions Cup action.
The Sharks were blown away for the first 60 minutes and fell 26-0 down, but they rallied to score consolation tries from Marland Yarde and Sam Phillips.
Toulon wings Gabin Villiere and Ramiro Moyano scored a try apiece, while their outstanding France fly-half Louis Carbonel was man of the match as he kicked 16 points.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get the result,” said Deacon. “I think the lads did Steve proud. He put this squad together. Hopefully he was watching and enjoyed it.
“I’m proud of their effort. We coughed up a bit of ball and there were a few unforced errors which cost us, but I can’t knock their effort. It was what I was after this week – the togetherness was fantastic with the way we fought back in the last 20 minutes.
“We threw the ball around and that’s how we want to play. There were a lot of positives to take.
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“The scoreboard got away from us in the first half which was unfortunate, but the lads stuck at it and that’s the pleasing thing. We’ve got our structures in place and the lads didn’t go off them.
“From that point of view it’s really pleasing, but it’s always disappointing when you don’t get the result. Next week is a new week and hopefully we can improve on that performance.”
Sale started well, but two penalties from Carbonel made it 6-0 to the hosts as AJ MacGinty missed one kick of his own.
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Pure magic from Carbonel created Villiere’s effort as the fly-half collected his own kick ahead before unleashing the winger.
Another Carbonel penalty made it 16-0 at the break and three more points from the star man came at the start of the second period.
An outstanding offload from veteran Italian number eight Sergio Parisse created Toulon’s second for Moyano, but Sale hit back with Faf De Klerk and Sam James providing impetus from the bench.
James kicked ahead and Sam Dugdale’s fine hands sent wing Yarde in at the corner. Giant lock Phillips then crashed over from a De Klerk pass, but it was not enough despite MacGinty’s kicks.
Yarde said: “I think we troubled one of the best sides in Europe. In the first half we could have kept the ball a little bit better, but I like the fight we had in us in the last 20 minutes.
“I thought we dug deep and we knew if we kept going throughout the game, we’d get our time.
“We fell just short, but looking ahead to next week, if we can join up some of our errors I think we’ll get a better result.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments