18/2/06 - Sale coach is Warriors fan

Jones, who captained the Sixways club from 2001 until 2002 after joining from Gloucester, was enthralled by the game and relieved to come away with maximum points.

"I am a Worcester fan when they don't play Sale," the former Wales skipper said. "I would have said it would be more like 3-3 than that. The game was a great spectacle."

And he paid Warriors the ultimate compliment by saying he considered them capable of challenging his side for one of the top four positions needed to make the play-offs.

He said: "We didn't want Worcester to get a bonus point, because they're chasing behind us for a top-four spot in the league. This was a great statement.

"Worcester is a tough place to go and we found it tough last season when we had three scrum-halves playing in the backs."

Worcester's director of rugby John Brain -- who worked with Jones during his time in the county -- returned the compliment, suggesting Sale are the best side in the country at the moment.

"They are top of the league and the league table doesn't lie," he said.

"They were without five players but I think they still had six internationals on the pitch and two British Lions.

"They have got the depth to finish top and win the competition. There's no doubt about that."

Despite Jones' admiration for Worcester, Brain thinks the prospect of a Warriors top-four finish is unrealistic.

"I have always said that our ambition this season was to finish better than ninth," he said.

"It's true that we were fourth at Christmas but that's Christmas and the season finishes in May.

"Our ambition is to still finish better than ninth and we believe that we have got a team capable of finishing in the top-half of the league.

"A top-four place wasn't our objective. It's something we know we could probably achieve but, realistically for us, finishing better than ninth and in the top half and the top six is what we are about."