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Faf ready for Ackermann's team

The livewire scrumhalf was at his quicksilver best in a mesmeric second 40 minutes at the AJ Bell Stadium as Sale ran in four tries to claim a deserved bonus point victory.

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Next up for Sale is a trip to Gloucester this Saturday – where De Klerk will come face-to-face with his former Lions coach Johan Ackermann and a former Lions teammate, Ruan Ackermann.

De Klerk won't be alone – with Springbok centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg, on loan from the Lions to Sale for a few months, and Scotland international (who captain the Lions a few years ago) also of the Sharks' roster.

The No.9 says the Sharks will be looking to build on their momentum following the side's third successive Premiership win.

"That second half against Bath was probably one of the best 40 minutes we have put together this season," De Klerk reflected.

"We've got a great back-line and I'm so happy that we started to show that in the second half against Bath. One of the big reasons things didn't go so well in the first 40 minutes was that we didn't get quick ball.

"So we spoke at half-time about getting quick ball and in the second half it was great.

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"And I think we showed on Saturday that if we give our backline quick ball we can cause problems for the opposition.

"The fact that we were able to play like that against a top side like Bath will give us a lot of confidence.

"We have won the last three games now in the Premiership so it's great for us as we are building some momentum.

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"Looking ahead, we want to try and maintain that at Gloucester this weekend, though we know it will be very tough against them."

Amongst the many individual highlights at the weekend was a barn-storming display by De Klerk's South African colleague Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

The powerhouse centre was a threat throughout the match and was unlucky not to cap a wonderful display by scoring a try.

"I thought that Rohan was great. He found his feet in the first few games after arriving and it was great to see him really get going and produce some good carries on Saturday," De Klerk added.

"Rohan probably would have scored a try but for a forward pass and I think he showed that he's going to be a destructive force for us."

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