England coach Brian Ashton came under renewed attack last night following Sale's Charlie Hodgson-inspired victory over Guinness Premiership leaders Bath at Edgeley Park.

Fly-half Hodgson has found himself behind Danny Cipriani and Jonny Wikinson in the international pecking order and seems unlikely to oust either player, despite his outstanding form this season.

Last night Hodgson landed 17 points with the boot and created a first-half try for Spain wing Oriol Ripol with a typically sumptuous crossfield kick.

He continues to prove invaluable to his club but Sale head coach Kingsley Jones admitted Hodgson is unlikely to ever be England's first-choice number 10 under Ashton.

"The current management set-up don't see Charlie as the way forward," said Jones after his side's 22-6 success.

"They see Cipriani as the long-term answer at number 10 and are looking to develop him there.

"He's got experience now and they see Charlie who's been tried - but they're obviously not convinced."

And yet Hodgson continues to dominate Premiership games, with his latest masterclass reaffirming Sale's title credentials in style.

That the performance came on a mudbath pitch made it all the more impressive.

Edgeley Park is home to Sale and Stockport County but the surface has steadily deteriorated throughout the season, with incessant rain turning it into a quagmire for this encounter.

The match was only given the go-ahead after a pitch inspection 30 minutes before kick-off and it was Sale and Hodgson in particular who adapted far better.

Bath head coach Steve Meehan - whose side's only points came from penalties either side of the break - said: "I thought the difference was Hodgson.

"He kicked remarkably well all things considered.

"But we are disappointed that we didn't take any thing from the game because I felt we deserved to."

Eyebrows were raised that the game even went ahead at all given the state of the sodden pitch.

Indeed, large patches were completely saturated from early evening and rain continued to pour down from the first whistle.

Meehan - who lost Shaun Berne after the fly-half lost three teeth due to a stray elbow and skipper Steve Borthwick to an ankle injury - added: "I didn't have any problem with the game going ahead.

"But Shaun lost three teeth and I hope it has been caught on film."

Sale director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre enthused about Hodgson's performance, saying: "I thought Charlie, tactically, played very well and very clever and we need to win four out of our last five games to secure a play-off spot.

"The pitch was terrible but it has been like that for the last three months."

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