Browse Sections

• Stockport County FC
• Sale Sharks
• Local football
• Local cricket

Sale Sharks 9 Worcester Warriors 17

Jenny Dixon
19/11/2008

PHILIPPE Saint-Andre claimed responsibility for Sharks’ horror show on Friday night, the team’s fourth consecutive home defeat.

Sharks lost 17-9 against Worcester after a performance that Saint-Andre described as: "One of the worst since I became involved with the club."

"I take a lot of responsiblity for this," added the former French captain.

The scoreline flattered the hosts, they were down and out long before the final whistle blew.

Had Worcester flyhalf Matthew Jones converted all of his kicks at goal, the visitors would have strolled away with a 22-point win.

Precision aside, Worcester demonstrated their superiority at the set-piece with flanker Craig Gillies a huge asset in the line-out, while in the scrum Sale struggled to compete with a pack barely affected by international call-ups.

Jones missed four penalties and a conversion, a woeful tally that would see most fly-halves marched off for target practice, but Worcester’s forwards exerted such control over the game that Sharks were given no chances to punish his inaccuracy.

Disappointed Sharks’ coach Kingsley Jones explained: "The scrum is an area of the game that traditionally we are good at, but we struggled. To lose Kristian Ormsby early on [to injury after 11 minutes] adds to the bad luck.

"We lacked power in the tackle area, we lacked physicality and they were better than us at the ruck.

"They turned us over quite a bit in the first half, but more than that I thought our territory and kicking game was poor.

"We seemed to play the whole game in our 22, and if you are defending your 22 all the time you are going to give penalties away and you’re going to concede points and tries.

"I think the effort was there from a lot of the guys but it is just very, very disappointing."

Just one try was scored in the match, Worcester flanker Netani Talei the last man in a wide, rapid passing move that created an overlap that neither centre Rudi Keil nor winger Mark Cueto could race in to cover.

Worryingly, Sharks launched a lone strike on Worcester’s tryline, after eight minutes, but Chris Bell’s high pass and forward pass stopped Cueto and hooker Neil Briggs in their tracks respectively.

Saint-Andre explained: "It’s rugby, when you go forward you smash people and you score points, when you go backwards you are punished.

"Worcester deserved to win. Rugby is professional but it’s still a simple sport - you need to have a good set-piece and you need to win your ball. When you don’t do this you are playing on the back foot and you struggle."

Friday’s defeat was Sharks’ fourth at Edgeley Park in succession, two of those EDF Energy Cup games and one a Heineken Cup game.

"I have been a coach for 10 or 11 years and it is the first time it’s happened," admitted Saint-Andre. "It’s very, very bad."

Also cause for concern is the lack of tries Sharks have scored in the Premiership so far. Their position in the Premiership table, sixth, belies the fact that Sharks have not been scoring tries in the league, with just three in six matches.