Australian James O’Connor has praised the incredible talent of his South African team-mate Faf de Klerk ahead of Sale’s showdown with Gloucester at the AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night.
Australia and South Africa may be rivals at international level, but at club level there looks to be a real bond between Sale’s new Southern hemisphere duo.
De Klerk has made a flying start to life at Sale, and fly-half O’Connor will be looking to make a similar impact to the African scrum-half.
O’Connor joined Sale in the summer from French club Toulon but has been unable to make his debut since undergoing ankle surgery in the summer.
Although O’Connor is set to start as a substitute tonight, the prospect of him and fellow summer newcomer De Klerk playing together is one which has fans excited.
“Faf’s a very talented guy and a real character as well,”O’Connor told the Premiership Rugby website.
“I think the biggest thing for me thinking about playing as a 10 alongside Faf is that he controls the game beautifully.
“South African scrum-halves are some of the best in the world.
“They are very chirpy and control the guys around the field very well and the beautiful thing is that Faf obviously listens to the game plan – if he sees something, he can take that opportunity.
“He’s got the speed and the footwork, he’s got the passing game and as we saw against Newcastle and Irish, he’s got the kick too to be able to find space and really dominate the game.”
Sale will go into tonight’s game looking to bounce back after last weekend’s disappointing 41-13 loss away at Saracens.
Image courtesy of Sale Sharks via YouTube, with thanks.
