Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond backs his coaching methods

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond has backed his coaching methods after a recent altercation with a journalist following their recent Gallagher Premiership win over Gloucester at Kingsholm.

It was reported that the Sale boss had a clash with Sam Peters of The Independent following the game last weekend after he was irked by the latter's article on Diamond that came in September.

The 49-year-old will avoid an investigation from RFU after Peters decided not to make a formal complaint but Diamond went on to defend his methods.

"No, I don't think I am misunderstood," he said. "I think it's a case of a couple of people forming their opinion.

"I am a massive believer in looking after our assets and our players.

"When Danny Cipriani was here, I looked after him and got him through the problems that he had before.

"There were one or two players who had been in here before and one or two players who are still here who we have looked after.

"That's not just me, that's the whole club."

Recently, Josh Beaumont and Faf de Klerk signed new deals with the club while Chris Ashton joined the AJ Bell Stadium outfit from French club Toulon ahead of the 2018/19 season and Diamond asserted that the players enjoy being part of the club.

"Forget Faf, who has been here 18 months, or 'Ashy', who has been here six months," Diamond said.

"'Beau' has been here as man and boy. He could have gone to any club. He chose to stay. You don't choose to stay if you don't enjoy it and you are bullied. That's it."

Sale Sharks are currently positioned seventh in the Gallagher Premiership after winning five out of the 11 games this season.