HEAD coach Paul Deacon described his first match in charge of Sale Sharks as a “nerveracking, new experience – but one I enjoyed”.

After a baptism of fire at the Stade Mayol in which his side found themselves trailing 26-0 during the secondhalf, Deacon, 41, said: “I just said to the boys that I’m proud of their efforts.
“We coughed up some ball with a few unforced errors which really cost us but I can’t knock their efforts which was what I was after.
“The togetherness was fantastic – the way we fought back in the last 20 minutes and threw the ball around.
“That’s the way we want to play so th...