Expectation: John Mitchell
Related links
Teams
Also see
Sale director of rugby John Mitchell has warned Danny Cipriani that he still has work to do on his defence despite Friday's win.
The former England fly-half impressed in the 33-27 win against Worcester, as his side scored three tries and Cipriani kicked a further 18 points.
"He played well and defensively showed some improvement tonight, but I'd still like to see him get his shoulders on and I'm sure everyone would," said Mitchell.
"He stiffened up defensively, which is what we've asked him to do and that is a sign of a player wanting to improve, but I don't think it's so much about him.
"It's about him playing his role within the team because ultimately it's not about any individuals.
"As you could see, that was a very good team effort and clearly, with a guy of his (Cipriani's) class, we need him to be at that level every week - not just one in three."
The win moved Sale to within a point of 11th placed London Irish, and Steve Diamond believes that momentum off the back of Friday's win could see the Sharks move off the bottom.
"We're still bottom of the league but we're catching the 11th spot and that's that target we've got," said Diamond.
"We've got to try and catch London Irish over the next four or five weeks and we're in no doubt that we're in a dogfight until the last game of the season.
"We're not going to pull ourselves free until the first week of May, I don't think."
Worcester director of rugby Richard Hill praised Sale's performance as well as notifying that yellow cards to Chris Pennell and Nikki Walker put his side at a disadvantage.
"One point is better than nothing but Sale deserved the win today," said Hill.
"They were fighting for their Premiership survival and I thought they looked very sharp. But we assisted them by having to play 20 minutes of that game with 14 men.
"Sale knew they had to perform tonight and they rose to the occasion very well. They put us under a lot of pressure and deserved the victory."
Comments
NHsaints says...
The reds managed to win a whole season with Cooper's defence, Sale should be more worried about clearing London Welsh who are on a bad run of form especially considering that London Irish have looked like they could spark a late season comeback at any time.
Posted 19:00 29th December 2012
looseheadcannon says...
BBC's site is reporting Mitchell is quitting to go back to SA...but the link is dead. What gives?
Posted 13:33 29th December 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
London Irish should not be the target. Irish are so volatile they might string together a run of bonus point victories after they catch them. They have to catch and pass London Welsh.
Posted 10:13 29th December 2012
colvin says...
Danny is definitely a classy player. But he has the Quade Cooper attributes of not approaching defence as a form of attack. Like Quade he often dodges it. Danny needs to watch videos of some of Dan Carter's better games and copy what Dan does. There's no reason he can't. It's all in the mind, if he wants it. It would be great to see Danny reach his potential. It's all up to him.
Posted 10:07 29th December 2012
JamieTheProp says...
I would say Sale need to concentrate on Cipriani's strengths and getting their back line fizzing - you want your 10 to run things first and tackle second!
Posted 09:55 29th December 2012