MARCO BORTOLAMI has been appointed as the new head coach of Sale.

The former Italy international takes up the role after the club announced the departure of Paul Deacon on Wednesday.

Bortolami was capped over 100 times for Italy and had a stint at Gloucester during his playing career before moving into coaching in 2016, where he joined United Rugby Championship team Benetton as assistant coach.

He became head coach in 2021 but it was announced earlier in February that he would be stepping down from his position at the end of the season.

Speaking about his new role with Sale, Bortolami told the club website: “I’m really excited and honoured to be part of this family. The club has been building for the last few years and to have the chance now to come and contribute is unbelievable.

“I’m excited about working with Alex [Sanderson]. I’ve got to know him well in the last four or five years and we have built a real understanding of each other and the direction that we both want to go.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to the culture and to the performance of the team on the pitch.”

Sale finished third in the Premiership this season, but were unable to reach the competition’s final after being beaten 21-16 by Leicester in the play-offs on Saturday.

Sale director of rugby Sanderson said: “I’ve known Marco for a long time now and I always feel more intelligent when I spend time with him. I think he’ll challenge me and there’s certainly already a base of respect and a trusting relationship there.

“This is a huge coup for the club because Marco is an international level coach. But that’s the level that our coaching needs to be at because that’s the kind of team we’ve got here.”