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Steve Diamond responds to claims Sale Sharks partied in Manchester after Prem Cup win

By Online Editors
Sale Sharks players after their Prem Cup final victory /PA

Sale Shark Director of Rugby Steve Diamond has dismissed claims that players at the Covid hit club partied following their Premiership Cup win in late September.

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Sale’s Sunday clash with the Warriors was called off after 16 of their players tested positive for coronavirus, but Premiership Rugby has announced that the game will now take place on Wednesday, subject to stringent retesting.

However, Northampton will not be given a second chance after withdrawing from their match against Gloucester due to all but two members of their front row having to self-isolate as a result of their match against Sale on Tuesday.

The decision to hand Gloucester a 20-0 win means Worcester are denied any realistic chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions Cup, which they could have achieved had they beaten a depleted Sale and Gloucester lost to Northampton.

In addition, Sale will go into the projected Wednesday fixture knowing exactly what they have to do to seal a play-off place.

The Telegraph reported overnight that players celebrated their win at Carrington training ground, but Diamond has poured cold water on the reports.

“Right the way through the process over the last six months [players have followed protocols]. It’s not a Premier Rugby protocol, it’s common sense.,” Diamond told BT Sport. “We’re living in unchartered waters with this illness.

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“We’re not expecting people to go out and party. That doesn’t happen. People have to be respectful and responsible when they’re not in the training environment.

“One: There’s nowhere to go. Two: They’re very responsible and they wouldn’t do that.”

Asked directly by Ugo Monye to refute claims that players gone into Manchester city centre to party, and Diamond said: “Yeah [I can]. It hasn’t happened.”

Although the cancellation clearly comes within league regulations, charges of inconsistency could be levelled at the governing body, whose rugby director Phil Winstanley clearly stated upon the resumption of the season in July that “no [cancelled] games would be replayed.”

Last month, French club Castres were forced to forfeit their European Challenge Cup tie against Leicester after three of their players tested positive for the virus.

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Northampton expressed “deep frustration” at being forced to forfeit through no fault of their own, adding that their request to register loan players in order to complete the fixture had been denied.

The club said in a statement: “As soon as we were aware of the situation, we asked for permission to register loan players beyond the normal deadline in order that we could attempt to complete the fixture.

“We were advised that this dispensation will not be granted. We therefore have no option to bring in additional players as cover.

“We are extremely disappointed that our season has ended this way; an outbreak of coronavirus at another Premiership club has left us with no viable option other than to forfeit our game.”

Northampton added that none of their players are currently symptomatic.

Premiership Rugby confirmed on Saturday that 21 people, including 18 players, tested positive for coronavirus in the latest round of testing. The positive tests affect three different clubs, and include the 16 players from Sale.

RugbyPass, additional reporting PA

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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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