Bryan Redpath is ready to face the Kingsholm abuse

Bryan Redpath will stride through the gates of Kingsholm with his head held high on Saturday, proud of the legacy he left behind at Gloucester.
Sale‘s head coach remains persona non grata as far as the Gloucester faithful are concerned after walking out on the club in April.
His subsequent appointment by Sale only heightened their antipathy and the Scot will face a torrent of abuse on his first Premiership return.
But Redpath says he is looking forward to revisiting his old stomping ground and takes pride in the success Gloucester have enjoyed under Nigel Davies.
“It’ll be great to go back to Kingsholm and I’ve absolutely no axe to grind with the people of Gloucester at all,” Redpath told The Rugby Paper. “I’ve said all along that they’re a wonderful group of people and I loved being part of it.
“I made a decision to move on and whether it’s right or wrong or good or bad, I left that club, in my eyes, in a very strong position.
“With the players we’d brought in and how we ran the place in terms of backroom staff, we worked hard to get Gloucester back to where it was.
“We brought in backroom guys like Andrew Stanley (academy) and Paddy Anson (fitness) and signed players like Huia Edmonds, Sione Kalamafoni, Jimmy Cowan and Billy Twelvetrees – all people I went out and spoke to and got to come to the club.
“Fair dos, they’ve started the season well and Nigel’s got them playing well. Freddie Burns has grown up hugely, as we knew he would, and I can take some pleasure from that.
“But I also have to try and forget about many things there because there are a lot of good people involved at Sale, too, and it isn’t about anybody’s ego.”
Sale’s poor start to the season saw Redpath demoted from director of rugby to head coach, with chief executive Steve Diamond taking charge.
But while Redpath candidly admits he has questioned his own coaching ability, he remains confident he can help turn things around.
“You doubt yourself every day,” Redpath said. “Every coach goes through tough times and you do question yourself during those lonely minutes.
“I think I’m good at my job – honest with my job – and although you have to remain innovative and keep developing, I still believe in myself.
“The players need me to be strong and that’s what I’m going to be, and then hopefully they can gain confidence and we can push through this.”
Sale are rooted at the foot of the Premiership and the threat of relegation is real, but Redpath believes the Sharks are better than results suggest.
He added: “I never envisaged us being in this situation but we’ve been unlucky in certain games and should have been seven or eight points better off.
“The disallowed try against Leicester was massive and there was another big decision in the last 10 minutes at Worcester that cost us a win.
“But that’s what happens when you’re at this end of the table and the important thing now is for everyone to dig in together and get out of it.
“It’s not about what’s happened to so and so or what’s happened to me, that’s all irrelevant now and we have a real tough challenge ahead.
“I don’t think we’re as bad a side as we’ve shown in terms of results but we’ve some massive games coming up – starting at Gloucester on Saturday.”
NEALE HARVEY