Yahoo News Steve Diamond interview: How did Sale Sharks become title contenders? Money
Steve Diamond has just been asked why Sale Sharks have been transformed from also-rans to Premiership title contenders and he barely even draws breath before delivering his answer: "Money."
Where other rugby coaches wax lyrical over fomenting team "culture" in their pursuit of glory — the word is a particular favourite of Bristol's Pat Lam — Diamond has a more prosaic attitude. Maybe it is his position on Sale's board of directors, as well as his coaching role, which shapes his pragmatism, but either way there is nothing apologetic about how finances are most often the catalyst for a side’s climb up the table.
“Our evolution is very simple, it comes down to money,” Diamond tells Telegraph Sport. “It comes down to the two investors Simon Orange [brother of Take That's Jason Orange] and Ged Mason backing me to create a competitive side that can win the competition or at least be in the top four at a regular basis.
“That is down to coaching in some ways but it really comes down to money. If you look at any football team generally and rugby is no different, the side that spends the most money generally wins. I don’t need to go into Saracens too much but if you just read what has happened with them. Over the past 10 years, they spent more money than everybody else.”
Sale have spent heavily, but for all the headlines generated by the signings of superstars such as Springbok Rugby World Cup winner Faf de Klerk and, most recently, Manu Tuilagi, it is the money invested in their academy which has yielded the richest rewards, developing players such England star back row Tom Curry, and his twin Ben.
The effect has been clear for all to see. Before rugby’s coronavirus enforced hiatus, Sale were sitting second in the Premiership table, sandwiched between leaders Exeter and Bristol. Their best finish in a decade has been sixth and the club hasn’t made the play-offs since winning the competition in 2006, but the days when they could be written off as plucky upstarts — are long gone.
“I didn’t mind being described as plucky when we spent 40 per cent of everyone else’s budget — then I thought we were plucky,” says Diamond. “Now, I think we would use to word plucky to motivate ourselves. We will probably have five people who will play in the British and Irish Lions series next year between our English and South African lads. I think there is an expectation we have created ourselves through recruitment and performance, which I feel we need to live up to.
“I think we have moved away from plucky and punching above our weight and that brings with it a different set of issues.”
The new “issues” are those of expectation and how Diamond explains it is somewhat unexpected — through the medium of football. Last week Diamond revealed a “basic friendship” with Sir Alex Ferguson, facilitated by Mason, with whom the former Manchester United manager co-owns the racehorse Give Me A Copper.
Despite being a Manchester City fan, Diamond likes to reference United, who train next to Sale at Carrington. “Manchester United are one of the greatest football clubs of all time, and up until eight years ago, everybody expected them to win every match every week but now they are plucky if they beat Liverpool,” said Diamond. “Whereas Liverpool are now expected to win all the time. That is where we are taking Sale at the moment.”
United and City might suck much of the oxygen out of the sporting atmosphere in Manchester — one of the reasons it has been such a struggle for Sale to attract significant crowds to their home games at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford — but Diamond has no issues in learning from football.
He noted with interest how Leicester City went from being the Premier League's form team before lockdown to struggling after the restart, and has taken on Ferguson’s philosophy of working with a trimmed down squad. He is even inspired by football's occasionally stripped-back approach to analysis.
“What I tend to do is effectively spend 90 per cent of the time focusing on ourselves and not worry about the opposition too much," he says. "That is what football tends to do — less analysis because the games come thick and fast and you have not got time for the players to absorb all the information.
“That is the mentality I take with Sale. I look at the opposition 10 per cent with coaches and analysts and then we focus on ourselves and if we get that right, if we get the 90 per cent right, 80 per cent of the time, we will be in the top four or five like we are at the moment.”
Diamond might swap football stories with his opposite number at Harlequins, Phil Gustard, when the pair meet for the first game of the Premiership’s resumption on Friday. Gustard has worked with the Football Association in coach education and has been seeking advice from Chelsea coach Frank Lampard in how to prepare his side for playing without a crowd.
Yet this could also be one of Sale's secret weapons. With the AJ Bell routinely half full for their home games, the notion of playing in front of empty stands should not hold any fear for Diamond or his players.
“We’re one of the sides that don’t rely on big crowds at home," he says. "We get a very faithful, loyal following but it probably averages 5,500 to 6,000 only. So, we are not used to playing in front of big crowds but we have an astonishing home record."
So, could it help the Sharks win just the club's second Premiership title, and their first since 2006? For once, Diamond is coy.
“If somebody said to jaunt forward to the end of this season – I would like to be in the top four. If you can make the top four it is a different competition with two one-off games and if you get to the final you have the chance to win it.”
BT Sport will broadcast live action from the Gallagher Premiership Rugby when it returns on August 14. Follow @btsportrugby on Twitter and Facebook.
