Sale Sharks director of rugby John Mitchell has explained his decision to drop Danny Cipriani for Sunday's Aviva Premiership encounter at London Wasps.
The fly-half has been left out of the entire squad for the fixture at Adams Park following last weekend's 62-0 thrashing at the hands of Toulon in the Heineken Cup.
"When you fall short in performance there are consequences. One or two individuals stopped serving the team last week," Mitchell told The Telegraph.
"Danny's got exceptional talent but he's going to have to learn how to defend.
"You've got to be reliable as a defender. It's that simple. You can sugar-coat it as much as you like but that's what it comes down to."
Sale Sharks are currently bottom of the table with one win and nine defeats from their first 10 games of the season.
