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Steve Diamond defends early training for Sale Sharks, revealing players had already lost a stone

Steve Diamond - Getty Images Europe 
Steve Diamond - Getty Images Europe

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has defended his decision to bring back players for fitness testing last month, revealing that members of his squad had already lost up to a stone in lockdown.

In a wide-ranging interview for Matt Dawson’s Rugby Show on BBC Radio 5 Live, Diamond explained that his players have suffered from anxiety over pay-cuts and an “abyss” of uncertainty regarding their careers.

He also suggested that a coronavirus testing programme, likely to be implemented between stages two and three of the clubs’ return to training, would be reliant on the generosity of Premiership owners.

Speaking last night, hours before this morning’s news that England’s domestic league will aim to restart on August 15, Diamond outlined his findings from fitness sessions that were organised in mid-May – before protocols had been ratified by the professional game board.

“I got a little bit of bad press a couple of weeks ago for bringing in the lads for testing but can you imagine having 40 young fellas working for you who are crying out to come in and need some kind of guidance?” he said.

Sale  - Getty Images Europe 
Sale - Getty Images Europe

“I thought it was right, at the time, to bring them in in small groups – sixes and sevens – to test them. Out of that testing protocol, we’re found that they’re very fit but they have lost three or four kilos each. Rugby is a game built on power and speed but to lose nearly a stone is a lot in that period.”

Diamond said that three players did not take part in these sessions because of worries over their pregnant wives. Apart from that, he reported, players voiced “no concerns”.

The 52 year-old, who has guided Sale to second place in the Premiership table, believes that a period of six weeks will be enough for Premiership clubs to ready themselves for competitive matches.

Players, Diamond said, are itching to return to the field. However, patience is vital and pay-cuts have been a necessary evil.

“All the lads are full of puff and wind and think they can be back in two weeks but we’ve literally had the longest lay-off in history – it’s the longest pre-season they’ve ever had, because we’ve not even been able to give them four weeks off to go on holiday and relax.

“They’re all anxious, thinking about their wages being dropped, thinking about their futures and when they are going to play again. There is no sort of answer I can give them, in my environment, to the questions they are asking.

“Of course, the financial issues are reasonably simple. There is no money coming in, so there are going to have to be pay-cuts – however poor, horrendous or heinous that sounds, it’s the way it has to be.

“It’s playing that is really important to them. Money is important to everybody, but doing what they do well every day of their lives is actually what they’re missing. That’s the problem we have got at the moment.”

Given the Premier League will reportedly spend £4m on their testing programme as part of Project Restart, money will be an unavoidable factor facing Premiership Rugby.

Diamond predicted that the competition’s safeguarding process would need club investors and owners to step up once more.

“It’s an expensive undertaking, but the league lost £50m per year before the coronavirus. These guys, fair play to them, have put their hands in their pockets for donkey’s years.”