Sale boss Steve Diamond was far from happy with referee Wayne Barnes after his side went down 21-19 to London Irish.
Booth hails "very important" win for Exiles as they sink Sharks
Sale boss Steve Diamond was far from happy with international referee Wayne Barnes after his side went down 21-19 to London Irish.
The Sharks were leading 19-18 with just four minutes to play when Barnes penalised them for a scrum offence, allowing fly-half Adrian Jarvis to step up and land his second shot at goal, giving the Exiles victory.
Nick Macleod kicked four penalties for the visitors and also converted Rob Miller's early try, though it wasn't enough to pick up a win on their travels.
Diamond admitted his side had not played to their "full potential", though he was even more forthright in his views on Barnes.
"I'm concerned about the referee being absolutely right about the penalty at the scrum," the Sharks' executive director of sport said.
"I'm not whinging but if the referee is going to make his interpretations, let it be consistent. That's what we are after.
"It is hard to take when such a crucial decision is made like that. He has to be 100% right that we wheeled the scrum. He ought to come to a coaching session and see that the wheel went out of the game 10 years ago.
"The hardest thing as a coach is we didn't play to our full potential today and the responsibility is on the coaches, players and ourselves.
"But, within three minutes (at the end), we could have and should have won the game."
Diamond claimed that, as much as coaches do try to talk to referees about the game, it is a "one way" conversation.
"There is a lot of dialogue but it is one way - from the coaches to them," said the former hooker," he added. "All we want to see is them learning."
Slow start
Opposite number Toby Booth felt his side had been tentative at the start of the game, resulting in them falling 10-0 behind.
However tries from Bryn Evans and Topsy Ojo put the hosts - who have now won six times in the Aviva Premiership this season - in front by the break.
"If we had been more clinical, we could have made it more comfortable," said Booth.
"That's what pressure does and that is what an injury list does. By the first 10 minutes, we were a bit tentative, and you have to give Sale credit for that.
"But we could have been considerably in front by half-time, if we had been more clinical. But I'm not going to shy away from the fact that the victory was very important from what we produced last week.
"The quality of your group is by how you respond in adversity and I thought they were absolutely outstanding in effort and intensity. We were good for it."
