Ashton questions value of relegation
ENHANCE QUALITY OF PREMIERSHIP RUGBY
SALE Sharks might not be discussing the ‘R’ word but Chris Ashton has joined the chorus of voices questioning the value of relegation ahead of a clash with Bristol Bears.
Only four points separate the teams from sixth to bottom in the Premiership, and Sale could finish anywhere between the top half and the foot of the table after this weekend.
With that in mind, every game is vital, but Ashton expressed his doubts about whether the threat of relegation is good for the league. He said: “Some people still want relegation, but I can’t see why they don’t cut it off.
“It’s been brewing for years because it’s consistently been the same team coming up and going back.
“We haven’t even discussed it, we’re about halfway through the season so there’s an awful long way to go. We didn’t have quite a few of our players for the first six games of the season and we’d only been together a few weeks.
“Hopefully now we can start to put some wins together. Everyone’s got a good squad now and anyone can beat anyone as we’ve seen. It’s a good league, that’s the way we want it to be, it’s as competitive as I’ve seen it.”
Sharks go into this weekend’s fixture off the back of a 17-14 loss to Bordeaux-Bègles, having comfortably beaten the French side 50-24 the previous week.
That ended a perfect campaign in Europe up until that point, and Ashton admits a little complacency had crept in.
He added: “With us putting so many points on the board the week before, and playing at home we maybe took it for granted a little bit.
“We were expecting someone else to come up with something and win the game.
“You just can’t be like that, you all have to do a role, that’s why it’s a team, and if you don’t then it’ll have a knock-on effect across the board.”
The clash with Bristol at the AJ Bell could be crucial in the final shake-up, and the Bears come into the game off the back of a win in La Rochelle, while they stuck 41 points on a 14-man Leicester side in their last Premiership game.
And Ashton is well-aware of the importance of a home encounter against Pat Lam’s promoted side.
He added: “You have to win your home games, that’s nonnegotiable and has to be your focus, it is for us and has been since the start of the season.
“I think people have put more relevance on it because it’s Bristol and they’re in the bottom six so people might say they’re in the same situation as us but we don’t want to lose at home.
“They’ve had some good wins this season so far. Pat Lam is a really good coach and he’s got them playing a good style of rugby.”