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'I thought he'd be a hero': Steve Diamond rues Sale's most expensive cameo ever

By Chris Jones
(Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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The Rugby Pod reacts to the red-carded tackle that has ruled Saracens’ Owen Farrell out of European action this weekend

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The Rugby Pod reacts to the red-carded tackle that has ruled Saracens’ Owen Farrell out of European action this weekend

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.

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.

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“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.”

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Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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