Sale 20-13 Worcester: De Klerk and Ross score in consecutive victory

England flanker Tom Curry’s latest all-action display inspired Sale to victory at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night, to provide a further boost to interim head coach Paul Deacon.

Following three successive defeats for the Cheshire club in the aftermath of Steve Diamond’s abrupt departure from his post as director of rugby, this was a second straight win, to keep the Sharks among the Premiership front-runners. 

Deacon is seeking to prove he should be placed in charge full-time and this result – if not the manner of the performance – will aid his cause.

Faf de Klerk surges over the line for Sale’s opening try as the side went on to win again

Curry was typically dynamic and influential for Sale, making tackles and carries, and winning turnovers, until his night ended with a last-minute yellow card. 

Similarly effective at the breakdown was England Under 20 prop Bevan Rodd, who continued his promising first-team emergence, while Worcester centre Oli Morris stood out in a losing cause for Alan Solomons’ side.

Jono Ross of Sale seen here tackled by Matt Kvesic of Worcester in what was a tough contest

‘Tom is a world-class player and we’re happy whenever he is playing for us,’ said Deacon, about his outstanding openside, who will soon be called away for the Six Nations. 

While admitting that he was ‘not ecstatic’ about Sale’s performance, Deacon added: ‘We spoke in the week about not backing up wins yet this season, so this is a really important victory for us.’ 

Diamond will be a hard act to follow, but Deacon wants the chance to take on the job, although when he was asked about his chances, he said: ‘I’ve got no idea. You’d have to ask the owners. But that is the next step in my career and I’m enjoying doing it at the moment. What we had before (under Diamond) was working, so we’re trying to build on that.’ 

The home side soon seized the initiative in poor conditions but only had a penalty by AJ MacGinty to show for their first-quarter efforts, before Faf de Klerk provided a vital spark. 

Victory means Sale keep pace with the frontrunners going for the Premiership title

After Marland Yarde stormed forward with purpose on the left, the Springbok scrum-half kept up the momentum and after a strong charge in the 22 by Coenie Oosthuizen, De Klerk dummied outside and stretched to score. MacGinty converted and added a penalty to make it 13-0.

Just before the break, Duncan Weir was on target at the other end to put the visitors on the board. In the second half, Worcester commanded more possession and built up sufficient pressure to earn a penalty which Weir dispatched in the 57th minute.

Sale sent on a raft of replacements and strove for the try which would put the game out of the Warriors’ reach. 

Four minutes from time, they secured it, as captain Jono Ross touched down to cap a driving onslaught, with MacGinty adding the extras. But the visitors had the last word with a penalty try as Curry was sin-binned.

Jonathan Thomas, Worcester’s head coach, said: ‘It’s always tough coming here and I’m proud of the effort of the players. We talked about staying in the fight and we did that. We are satisfied to get a point, but we could have got more.’