NEW Zealanders Norm Rusk and Scott Lines made their first starts for Sale Sharks against Bristol on Wednesday night as the Heywood Road side tried to make amends for the defeat against Newcastle.

Sharks went down 27-13 against Rob Andrew's Falcons and the result brought them back down to earth after back-to-back wins over Bath and Gloucester.

Coach Glenn Ross made eight changes to the side, in an attempt to return to winning ways However, many of these changes were forced through injury to key players.

Hamstring victim Vaughan Going was missing from the side as was Matt Moore, who limped off on Saturday with bruised ankles.

Going's enforced absence heralded a return to first team action for veteran full-back Jim Mallinder.

Also missing were Duncan Bell and Andy Whittle, both out with shoulder injuries.

Against Newcastle, Sale came tantalisingly close to maintaining their 100% league record - they were 13-10 up with ten minutes left to go.

A Jonny Wilkinson penalty pulled the Falcons level, and another demoralising Sale defensive collapse ensued as they gave away two more tries.

In true Sale style, they ignored the possibility of a bonus league point for a seven-point defeat, hunting for outright victory instead.

Hugh Vyvyan pounced and John Leslie added another to leave the scoreline at a very flattering 27-13.

After the match, Glenn Ross said, "It is a big challenge for us now. We have been riding the crest of a wave for the last couple of weeks.

"Our feet have never left the ground, however, but we certainly face reality with the challenge ahead of us at Bristol on Wednesday and home to European Champions Northampton, on Saturday."

Meanwhile, Bryan Redpath had reason to celebrate as the news came through that he had been re-called to the Scotland squad.

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