Sale director of rugby Bryan Redpath has warned his players to keep their emotions in check during Friday's clash against Leicester in Salford.
The Sharks are the only winless team in the Premiership and suffered their fifth defeat last week at Bath - a match which added insult to injury when number eight Andy Powell and wing Tom Brady received yellow cards.
Both appeared before a disciplinary committee and Powell, who reacted angrily to his sending off with an obscene gesture at Bath fans, was fined £5,000 and Brady banned for two weeks for a dangerous tackle on Ben Skirving.
With Sale sitting at the foot of the table, that was the last thing Redpath needed and he is subsequently urging his players not to lose their heads against Leicester.
"We've had citings this week on top of a lot of injuries and it's never easy," Redpath told the Manchester Evening News.
"Looking back to last week, I thought Andy was very unlucky to be yellow carded in the first place and with every thing that has gone this season, the frustration boiled over as he walked off and in a way I can understand it.
"Aside from what happened at the disciplinary hearing, we'll do our own internal review and deal with it as a club.
"But the key thing is as a club that in difficult times we have to control our emotions."
Redpath also urged his players not to concede needless penalties within goal-kicking range.
This has been a constant feature in their five losses this season and he knows they can't afford to gift Leicester's young fly-half George Ford any opportunities to punish them.
"There was a better intensity to our display last weekend but in the first half we gave away two soft penalties which meant we were always chasing the game," he added.
"Two of the penalties we conceded in the first half were very poor and you can't give them away against the calibre of kickers you find in the Premiership nowadays.
"If you want to compete you can't afford to do that. We have highlighted that issue as it's not good enough.
"It's a massive challenge for us again. Obviously everyone is very disappointed with how the season has started.
"There are a lot of people asking questions and quite rightly so and we have to accept that.
"Tonight is a big game against a top side and it's at home. The last home game against London Welsh was unacceptable and Friday is a chance to get back on track.
"We are better than that but we haven't shown that yet."
Comments
Be the first to comment on this story..