Toulon trip provides tough first test post Steve Diamond era for Sale Sharks

December 09, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Life without Steve Diamond begins at the Stade Felix Mayol in Toulon on Saturday as Sale Sharks begin a new era in the club's history.

An ever-present figure at the Manchester-based club, Diamond stepped down as the club's Director of Rugby of Tuesday, with immediate, effect with interim head coach Paul Deacon taking over from Dimes.

“Look, I don’t know the ins and out’s behind it, Steve decided for personal reasons that he wanted to leave and on that I have to say what a fantastic job he has done for this club. He has left a legacy here in my mind, he’s built a great squad that we believe can compete at the highest level and built a magnificent training facility at that we are lucky enough to have here at Carrington. Dimes did so much for the club that people don’t know about and has pretty much given his life to Sale. I wish him all the best for the future.” - Deacon told SaleSharks.com on Wednesday.

Sale's final game under the stewardship of Diamond was an away win over London Irish. Sale started the new season brightly with a 32-23 win over Northampton Saints at the AJ Bell before they were stunned by Newcastle Falcons in round two.

On his departure from the club Diamond said 'I feel that this is the perfect moment to hand over to someone else, given the club is now stable and in a great position to compete at the highest level.' That statement will be put to the test almost immediately with the daunting task of taking Toulon on in France.

Toulon may be somewhat of a shadow of the side that won a hattrick of Champions Cup titles between 2013 and 2015 but there are signs of a recovery in the South of France. In recent seasons, Patrice Collazo has recruited some grunt in the second row in Eben Etzebeth as well as the flair and game management of Baptiste Serin while the academy has also started to produce some exciting youngsters. An injury-hit side has managed 6 wins from 10 to start the 2020/21 season with a mix bag of results in recent times with their recent results reading: W, W, L, W, L.

Head to Head:

Toulon have won each of their four encounters with Sale Sharks in the Heineken Champions Cup, keeping the Sharks under seven points scored in three of those games.

The first meeting between the two in the competition was the closets with Sale losing 6-17 at the AJ Bell back in 2012 while Toulon registered a 62-0 victory in the reserve fixture.

Highlights from the 2016/17 season below:

Quotes from the two camps:

“Preparations of the team won’t differ too much, Dimes trusted us as coaches to do that job, Yesterday’s news came as a big shock to everyone, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet. We are just cracking on with the job at hand as we have a big game this weekend, so we’ve got to prepare the boys as best we can and crack on for now.” - Paul Deacon on the preparations for Toulon

"We are all aware of playing in a club where the European Cup culture is immense. We, therefore, have no other option but to show a good face. Last season, it was essential for us to perform well in the Challenge Cup, to show that this group was not necessarily in its place: we have internationals, young people of a certain talent and we wanted to show that we had a strong team. Now, the Champions Cup will give us answers on the real potential of this group. I'm not worried, we will be able to bridge the gap that exists between the two competitions." - Baptiste Serin on the pressure of playing Champions Cup rugby for Toulon and making the jump from the Challenge Cup, via Rugby Rama

MATCH FACTS:

- Toulon have won each of their four encounters with Sale Sharks in the Heineken Champions Cup, keeping the Sharks under seven points scored in three of those games.

- Toulon have lost two of their last three home games in the Champions Cup (W1) after winning 23 of their previous 24 (L1); two of their three home defeats have come against teams from England (Saracens in October 2016 and Newcastle in October 2018).

- Sale Sharks have lost their last 13 away games in the Heineken Champions Cup, by an average margin of 25 points; they have also lost 11 of their 13 visits to TOP 14 teams in the competition (W2), last winning there against Clermont Auvergne in October 2008.

- RC Toulon recorded the best tackle success rate of any club in the Challenge Cup last season, completing 89% of their attempted tackles.

- Toulon’s Gabin Villiere won 10 turnovers in the Challenge Cup in 2019/20, the joint most of any player (also Jack Willis) and twice as many as the next best back – teammate Baptiste Serin (5).

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