Kingsley Jones praised the performance of England duo Mark Cueto and Mathew Tait after his side's crucial victory over Worcester
Warriors boss still believes his side can avoid the drop
Sale director of rugby Kingsley Jones praised the performance of England duo Mark Cueto and Mathew Tait after his side's crucial victory over Worcester.
Winger Cueto scored the late try, set up by centre Tait's break, that wrapped up the Sharks' 17-3 victory over their relegation rivals.
"You could just see the difference that those two make to the team. The best coach has the best players, end of story," said Jones.
"We struggle without them, but it was a great effort from everyone and I thought the way we defended was excellent.
"I thought Mark epitomised what it is all about on the wing, that's leadership. It lifted the crowd, it lifted the team and that's what you have quality in your squad for, although our quality players haven't taken the field as often as we would have liked this season, not just Mark and Mathew but a lot of other guys.
Excellent
"But for Mark and Mathew to come and put in that performance is excellent for us."
As for the relegation battle, Jones added: "I am friends with Mike (Ruddock) as you know but it was very important to us tonight that Worcester got nothing from the game. We are pleased with the outcome.
"But we need to respect where we are in the table as whether we had won or lost tonight we would still be in the mire. This result has eased things but not taken us out of it.
"There will be lots of twists and turns, you guys know how unpredictable the Premiership is. There will be a lot of results that will shock us."
Warriors boss Ruddock admitted the hosts deserved their win. He said: "I thought Sale edged the game and deserved their victory. We needed to match them at half-time but unfortunately we didn't and they got those two drop goals by Charlie Hodgson.
Proud
"That gave them a nine-point lead which we could have done without, but I was proud of our players and the effort they put in."
Despite still being without a league win since September, Ruddock still believes his side can avoid the drop.
"The crucial thing for us is our home games. We have three home games left and we have to nail those. If we win those then we will be fine," he added.
"I think we are playing good rugby and we are not a side that looks dispirited or lacking in effort. We need to keep plugging away and hope the things that have been going against us start going our way sometime soon."
