Brewer hails form of Jackson

Sale boss Mike Brewer wants his fly-halves to model their game on Ruaridh Jackson after his new side won 23-22 at Glasgow on Friday.

The New Zealander watched as his outfit edged out the Scots at Firhill in their second pre-season fixture ahead of the 2010/11 term.

Yet there were some pluses and negatives for Brewer to mull over as former Auckland full-back Paul Williams fell into the former category.

"I was very disappointed with the first thirty minutes," he said after the contest.

"We just didn't hold onto the ball and as much as I've been trying to get the boys to play a game where they are aware of what's in front of them and playing the offload game, it's still really important that they hold onto the ball and from the kick-off we didn't manage that for more than two phases.

"I think Paul Williams showed the class he has. He oozes class and is one of those players who has time on the ball and he just glides through a game. He's a big signing for us. You start putting Mathew Tait, Mark Cueto around him and he'll only get better and I was really pleased with him.

"I was also really happy with what you might term our 'second team'. They came on after 30 minutes, they were down 10-3, we looked at the way Glasgow defended they left the full back in the back field on his own. Rob Miller worked that out with a little chip kick and Jack Forster, on his first game back from a shoulder operation, got on the end of it and scored a try. I would say that five minute passage of play when Jack and Andy Tuilagi both scored tries won us the game."

One area that Brewer thought the Sharks fell down on was in the play-making department as hugely-promising Warriors pivot Jackson orchestrated well from number ten.

"The best fly-half on the pitch was Ruaridh Jackson. He controlled the first half really well and the way he controlled the game was a good lesson for Matty James and Rob Miller," he continued.

"The Warriors are good side. I remember coming to Firhill with Leinster and coming away having being well beaten. They are a hard side to beat at home and they weren't in the top four of the Magners League for nothing last season. Toulouse have played here and struggled, Gloucester have played here and they have struggled. It's a good win for us.

"What it has done ahead of the Treviso game, given that the second team played better than the first team, is give me a bit of a headache! Where the 'starting team' boys in Clermont were streets ahead, the second team picked up the challenge at Glasgow and the first team stepped away. Not just in hunger and intensity but in awareness and execution. They really did well."