'I thought he'd be a hero': Steve Diamond rues Sale's most expensive cameo ever
An attempt by Rob Webber to solve the short-term injury problems at title-chasing Sale has ended disastrously with the former England hooker needing surgery to repair a broken collar bone suffered in the Premiership loss to Bath.
Having re-joined Sale on a short-term deal from Jersey where he is now the forwards coach having left Sharks at the end of last season, Webber was injured in an incident last Sunday that also earned him a yellow card just minutes after coming onto the pitch.
He will now return to the Championship club while Akker van der Merwe, the South African hooker he was meant to be filling in for, has regained full fitness from his foot injury, removing the need for Steve Diamond to seek further cover heading in Monday night’s Premiership Cup final with Harlequins at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Diamond has opted to mix and match his team for the final, starting Manu Tuilagi and Faf de Klerk on the replacements bench against a Harlequins side that registered an impressive victory over Gloucester at Kingsholm.
The coach has Springbok lock Lood de Jager, who is having shoulder surgery, prop Ross Harrison and Josh Beaumont on the unavailable list as he attempts to win a trophy before they resume their battle to earn a Premiership play-off place.
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Diamond said: “I thought I would bring back Rob Webber and he would be a hero – he got a yellow card after being on the pitch after two minutes and broke his collar bone in the incident. “I won’t be bringing anyone else in and Akker is back to full fitness. It’s thank you very much, Rob Webber, with the shortest, most expensive cameo I have ever paid out!
“I gave the players four days off after Bath and we could be in a better position in the league. Against Bath, we gave the ball away 31 times, gave 14 penalties and 17 turnovers and also decided to play with 14 men for 20 minutes with two yellow cards. There is frustration all over the shop.
“The team that won four out of five games was a combination of the whole squad and everyone wants to play in the final. We have to be pushing in the top four every year and anything other than that would be disappointing.
“The Premiership Cup has meaning this year and we have won all our games. It would be rude not to respect the competition and we will be having a crack at it. Harlequins put in a great performance at Gloucester and are a very good side.”
TEAM NEWS ? | It's FINAL-ly here #SharksFamily…
Here are #YourSharks to face @Harlequins in the @premrugby Cup Final! ?
?? Full debut for Cobus!
? Cliffy & Rob are BACK!
? The BEAST is in the mix!LIVE ? on BT Sport from 7:30pm on Monday! #SharkTime | @MorsonGroup pic.twitter.com/a3JXcPnqLI— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) September 18, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
5 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
5 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
2 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
116 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
2 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to commentsThis is the most exciting game of the summer imo, as we really won’t know in advance how both teams are going to play. - Will Robertson just reproduce his Crusaders tactics from last year, or will there be a conscious effort to borrow from the Hurricanes and Blues, and from the aspects of the ABs world cup strategy that worked well? - England under Borthwick have put in some good performances playing attacking rugby, and some good performances playing kick-oriented defensive rugby. Will Borthwick try to merge them together into a single all-court game, or will he continue switching between different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition?
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
1 Go to commentsI’m predicting an aggregate points difference of no more than +/-10pts across both matches this series.
9 Go to commentsFinals are always tense affairs for the players so I do not expect this to be a spectacle of running rugby unfortunately.
4 Go to commentsBulls***': Ex-England international calls out Eben Etzebeth… Not to his face but from very far away… after he’d left. Checked to make sure he wasn’t in the building.
116 Go to commentsHopefully this will mean a new Auckland league team to support in the west. Big Warriors fan but it’s very, very stale on that front and I’d like the option of another team if it was to watch league again. League needs to step up BIG time if its to get anywhere, another AK team and something from the capitol or south is a must for the game.
3 Go to commentsGood, deep interview, nice job Frankie!
1 Go to commentsNRL players don’t have anywhere near the number of Tests. Some people would be happy having Rest Homes full if 40 yo ex-players walking, or hobbling more like it, into walls. It’s just a game!
4 Go to commentsNOW Razor is worried about ABs getting injured or overplayed! Didn’t bother him last year. He happily played his AB Crusaders.
4 Go to commentsWhat is the World Rugby U20 players born year.
2 Go to commentsMuch like the Chiefs finally gave up waiting for Atu Moli to ever not be injured, you have to wonder if the Chiefs and Crusaders will let Josh Lord and Ethan Blackadder go next season. They’re being well paid to sit in the injury ward every year. Better off putting those funds towards someone who might actually play.
7 Go to comments