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Steve Diamond's thinly-veiled barb at Leicester over Manu Tuilagi
Steve Diamond insists his “direct mentality” sealed the deal for England centre Manu Tuilagi to join Sale after leaving Leicester. British and Irish Lions star Tuilagi left boyhood club Leicester earlier this month after rejecting a 25 per cent salary reduction due to the coronavirus impact and he has since signed for Sale.
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The 29-year-old kept his England career alive by staying on home soil, moving to Manchester having left Tigers in acrimonious circumstances as a free agent due to effective contract breaches.
Sale rugby director Diamond has revealed he did not need to give Tuilagi any big sell, hinting in a thinly-veiled barb at Leicester that the Samoa-born powerhouse was relieved in comparison by his uncomplicated approach.
“We had very little conversation, I spoke to him on the Friday once I learned he was a free agent,” Diamond told BT Sport. “And I just gave him some clarity of where we were going and what I wanted from him. And that I certainly wanted more than nine games, which was his average number of games for Leicester.
“We talked about how we would do that and our driver is to get him playing for England like he does, but also playing very well for us and hopefully he gets on the Lions tour. So not a lot of pressure, just an arm round his shoulder. I told him that we’ll make him feel welcome and we’ll look after him.
"He said I'm not speaking to anyone else, I want to come to Sale."
"I got my pen out very quickly!"
Steve Diamond reveals that Manu Tuilagi did not need much convincing to join @SaleSharksRugby ?
Exciting times. #RugbyReturns pic.twitter.com/jLYWEzCIfn
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) July 24, 2020
“He sat down in our office and said, ‘After our conversation on Friday I’m not speaking to anybody else, I want to come to Sale’. So I got my pen out very quickly! To be fair, I have about 30 other people who do the selling for me in the other players.
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“Word gets around how we look after lads, the facilities are second to none. My style really isn’t showing them round the gym, they are all very similar. It’s all about the communication really, what his role is, what I want out of him. He liked that direct mentality – something I think he’d been missing.”
Leicester insisted they were forced into drastic cost-cutting measures to offset the coronavirus impact, making 31 redundancies across club staff earlier this month. Players were asked to take salary cuts and those who refused opted to leave, including Tuilagi, Kyle Eastmond and Telusa Veainu.
In confirming the departures, including that of Tuilagi, Leicester chief executive Andrea Pinchen said: “The majority of people are going down that path with us and a handful couldn’t.”
Tuilagi is already training with Sale and will be available for the Sharks’ tilt at the Premiership title when the delayed season resumes on August 14. Premiership clubs can straight away field new signings who would not have featured until next season after the current campaign was suspended during lockdown.
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Tuilagi has signed at Sale until the end of the 2020/21 season, with Diamond admitting he told the wrecking-ball midfielder that he wants him to feature regularly in Sharks colours. The potent centre battled a string of groin and knee issues at Leicester, but he has been free of those issues for some time and Sale could be poised to reap the benefit.
“The most crucial thing for me was not pressurising him into signing a long-term contract, just see the year out, perform at your best,” said Diamond. “If you play as you can do and he gets on the Lions tour and he plays for England and does well for us, then he becomes a very valuable commodity.
“We’ll do everything we can to keep him, but that will be his last contract really so he’s got freedom really to do what he wants. There’s not much in the game that he hasn’t achieved at that stage.”
BOD takes his liking of England to new heights https://t.co/dDRuDJAY6X
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 24, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets 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?
11 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.
10 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.
11 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.
24 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.
10 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.
17 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 comments