No sooner had he exhorted his charges to their first away win in the Premiership this season than Steve Diamond became involved in a fracas with a member of the press outside the media centre. Diamond had just completed his media duties when he approached Sam Peters and asked the journalist why he had not asked any questions. Then, in the tradition of the old school he values so highly, Diamond invited Peters outside for further discussion.

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Peters had written an article for the Independent highly critical of Diamond’s regime in September and this was the first occasion the two had crossed paths since. Peters took his recording device with him for the assignation, which Diamond snatched when outside. As Peters moved to get it back Diamond yelled at him to take his hands off him, precipitating a shouting match for around a minute during which Peters accused Diamond of being a bully.

It was an incident symptomatic of Diamond’s hot-headedness, his very appetite for the fray as stirring as it is destructive. For the first time this season that mindset inspired a performance on the field of sufficient aggression and precision to take a league win away from Salford.

If logic were anything to go by, this was an inexplicable result, but logic flew out the window long ago in this season’s Premiership. In winning at Gloucester, who were clear in third and playing to a packed and famously raucous house, the Sharks suddenly find themselves in the top six. Only a couple of rounds ago they were vying with Newcastle at the bottom. Such is this season’s bun fight, they could just as easily find themselves back down there as they could in the Premiership playoffs come the end of the season.

Sale not only won away, they took the bonus point. There were fisticuffs from the start and off the field the usual fireworks from Diamond and his cohorts were loudly in evidence, their railing at the heavens morphing into celebration as the Sharks rode an early 10-point deficit to score 30 unanswered points.

They can play a bit. Faf de Klerk is a livewire the Springboks, no less, are glad to call their own, and around him South African and North Englishman dovetail smoothly.

Gloucester ran out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, Jaco Visagie finishing some smooth approach work. Then, in the second, Sale responded with 17 unanswered points. Chris Ashton finished smartly for Sale’s slick first try. Their second was a beauty, Ashton’s half-break developed by James O’Connor, who found De Klerk on his shoulder.

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A penalty on the stroke of half-time extended Sale’s lead before another stretched it to 10. That second came with a yellow card for Lewis Ludlow, four minutes after a yellow for De Klerk, who tapped down a Gloucester pass in a threatening position.

Unlike Sale, Gloucester chose to send their penalty to the corner and messed it up. Already their game management was creaking.

Sale took advantage. Having used their previous penalty wisely, they sent another to the corner and drove through Gloucester’s undermanned pack with ease for their third try.

On the hour they had that bonus point. Jono Ross drove close and De Klerk whipped out a long pass to Denny Solomona to score in the corner. Gloucester hammered away for the rest of the final quarter, driving a lineout over in the dying minutes. No one was fooled. Gloucester have not yet put their troubles behind them.

And Sale’s are sure to revisit them before this most competitive season is out. Indeed, with his little contretemps long after the last ball had been kicked, Diamond may just have triggered another unnecessary investigation into his controversial methods.