SALE Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond admitted his side were taught a lesson by Northampton Saints fly-half Stephen Myler in their 32-12 home Premiership defeat last Friday.

Sale remain in 10th in the table after back-to-back defeats to Northampton and Saracens following their win against league leaders Wasps last month.

And while Diamond hopes for better when his side visits Exeter Chiefs on Saturday, he had no complaints about last weekend's outcome.

He told the club's website: "Second half, fair play to them, Stephen Myler gave us a masterclass on how to keep us in our own half, and we couldn't deal with it.

"It doesn't happen often down here but we got out-enthused, which I'm not happy with.

"There's one or two of our lads who've got to look at themselves.

"If they have aspirations of playing at the highest level, they've got to do it here.

"As a collective the place looked leaderless – we lost Will Addison and it looked like nobody could take the game by the scruff of the neck, so I'm really disappointed with that."

A brighter note last week for Sharks was the news England U20 internationals Ben and Tom Curry had both signed five-year contracts at the club.

The 18-year-old twins are the latest players to come through the club’s academy system, which has also produced Ross Harrison, Josh Beaumont, James Mitchell, Cameron Neild, Mark Jennings, James Flynn, Mike Haley, Sam James and Will Addison who are regulars in the first team.

Diamond said: “I’m delighted that both Ben and Tom have signed long-term deals at the club. They will play key parts in the club’s vision of developing players in the academy and bringing them through to the first team.

"This shows our commitment to bringing through the best of the North West’s youngsters.

"The academy side made the final this year for the first time ever and we are now looking to work with most of those players and help them progress to the first-team squad in years to come.”