The interim coach's different tone and the resurgence of Sale is good news for northern talent and for England
It may be overstating the case to suggest that a great northern storm is blowing through the portals of English rugby, but there are certainly a few gusts of which to take note.
Eye-catching, of course, is Stuart Lancaster's decision to move England's base camp for the Six Nations to Leeds, a patch he knows best, rather than follow what had become the accepted way of doing things and booking his elite squad in for a few days in the gentler airs of a Portuguese winter.
Along with the disciplining of Danny Care, while telling some of England's more venerable internationals that they will not be required, the interim coach has set a different tone from the one which seems to have applied at the World Cup, but look over the other side of the Pennines and you'll see something equally important going on.
After last Saturday's match at Welford Road all the chat was of Leicester being back in a play-off position after a pretty dismal start to the season, and for those who like the comfort of convention it will have been warming to see the Midlands club's continuing recovery, even if more disruption is just around the corner in the form of the Six Nations. After all it's been seven years since Leicester last finished a season outside the top four.
But it was Sale, the other scrapping side at Welford Road, that have been interesting me this season, if only for the way in which Steve Diamond has gone about rebuilding a team whose future is vital to the health of rugby in England.
Rightly or wrongly, it was not so long ago the vibes coming from Edgeley Park were of owners possibly at the end of their tether with a team that was costing a lot and bringing little success to an area dominated by football of the Manchester United and Manchester City kind and with a strong rugby league history.
Indeed, there must have been times during the flirtation with relegation that the 2006 championship-winning side, who took the title in an era dominated by Leicester and Wasps, seemed a distant memory as a series of coaches preceded the return of Diamond to the club he represented on more than 300 occasions.
However, I gather the enthusiasm is back and it was confirmed this week when Ian Blackhurst who, along with Brian Kennedy has co-owned the club for 11 years, confirmed their continuing commitment, while explaining the elevation of Diamond to chief executive after just 11 months in charge.
During that time hardly anything seems to have remained unchanged at Sale with 18 players arriving in the summer while 33 either retired or left. However, Diamond made a particularly shrewd choice in calling in Tony Hanks, a Heineken Cup and championship winner with Warren Gatland and I at Wasps, as his head coach.
Initially at Wasps, Hanks was called an analyst, but he was always more than that and you won't find a harder working technical coach. Clearly, his skills have blended with Diamond's, with the club now announcing that the bulk of the day-to-day coaching and tactical decisions will be left to Hanks and the forwards coach Stevie Scott. Diamond will continue to recruit and, while you can see Jimmy Gopperth joining the playing staff if Newcastle go down, no doubt maintain his policy so far which is diametrically opposite to the one espoused by Philippe Saint-Andr� when he built that 2006 side.
Whereas Saint-Andr� bought in from abroad, the Diamond way has been to look locally (Scotland is not that far away), providing local talent with a stage on which to perform. And that's the really important bit where England are concerned.
The north has always been a production line of England rugby players, but with Leeds being relegated and Newcastle teetering on the brink again, there has to be a target for aspiring northern players which is closer to home than Northampton or Leicester. Choke that off and England lose a huge reservoir of talent.
So how does the future look? Well, you have to be impressed at the way Sale scrapped for their bonus point last weekend and Hanks says he will stick with the adventure that has served Sale so well so far. They have found new talent such as the wing Tom Brady and the full-back Rob Miller and may be on their way to a new home.
Over the holiday I was up in Wigan and drove past Salford City Reds' impressive new 12,000-capacity stadium at Barton which Sale are seeking to share. Apparently a decision on the move is due next month.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/05/sale-steve-diamond-northern-rugby
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