Blackadder: Work to do for top four

BATH director of rugby Todd Blackadder admits that they must improve their away form if they are to challenge the top-four next season.

“I know our away record is not going to be good enough for top-four but, even against Sale, it showed how close we were,” he said.

“We were a couple of millimetres from scoring another try and a couple of bizarre decisions could have turned that game, but we’ve just got to be more consistent on the road.”

Sale boss Steve Diamond is positive about their chances next season, despite seeing his side end the current campaign in 10th. “We’ve got lads in the England squad, we’ve got a plethora of lads coming through the ranks and the owners have put their hands in the pocket.

“We’re going to be spending more money than we’ve ever spent on the team.

We’ll still be a country mile behind the other 11 teams but we’ve got to get it economically right.

“We’ve got two signings to announce over the next week or so and I think that we will be a different proposition next year.”