Opposition view: Diamond salutes Sale 'hero' after win at Saints

De Klerk pulled the strings for his side in an impressive performance, helping them to rack up six tries on the night.

The South African scrum-half was relentless as he put pressure on Saints.

And Diamond said: "He's a hero for us, isn't he?

"He does everything in attack and defence, he's such a bright spark and he has such a positive influence on everything he does. He gets on well with referees.

"We're delighted he's with us a long time and his enthusiasm rubs off on everyone else."

Diamond was happy with how de Klerk brought his wingers into the game, with Sale using centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg and full-back Simon Hammersley out wide.

"We went with Rohan and Simon Hammersley on the wings and we wanted to see what Rohan could do on the wing," Diamond explained.

"With Dan Biggar playing, we wanted two full-backs and Luke James is such a good player that I can't not pick him in the team and we had Hammersley in there.

"We moved our wingers around, it was a bit of an experiment but both scored, both defended well and it went well for us."

Sale's success cemented their place in the Gallagher Premiership top four.

And Diamond added: "We played quite well in the (Premiership Rugby Cup) final but we've not been firing on all cylinders.

"We have won five out of six games so we have done well but the skill was good this time and we exploited the space well.

"The James brothers got their kicks down the lines and that turned their big lads and ultimately we were able to capitalise on it.

"I'm delighted with that first half."