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'Tenacious' De Klerk set to join Sale
By Harry West
Faf de Klerk will join Sale Sharks from next season as the Premiership club look to replace Mike Phillips at scrum-half.
Phillips hung up his boots - adorned with the words 'I did it my way' for his final game - after Sale's 27-24 win over Bath on Saturday.
And on Monday, Sale announced the impending arrival of South Africa international De Klerk from Super Rugby outfit Lions on a three-year deal.
"I am made up that Faf has decided to join us next season," said Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond.
BREAKING NEWS:
Sale Sharks sign @fafdeklerk #JoinTheHunt pic.twitter.com/Ib5N3uWCEl
— Sale Sharks (@SaleSharksRugby) May 8, 2017
"He is tenacious with a fantastic work rate - he dictates the tempo and direction of the game and I think he will fit in well both with our style of play, and with a young, ambitious squad.
"He's an unbelievable ball carrier, has a solid kicking game and he is exciting around the pitch. He sees the weakness in his opposition and can leverage this to his advantage.
"He's young but has massive experience and this will be crucial in helping us to build on the foundations we have put in place this year."
Since making his Springboks debut against Ireland in June last year, De Klerk has made 11 international appearances.
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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