After a stuttering start to the season Sale yesterday became the first English club to announce that all their world cup stars would be back in action this weekend.

After losing to Cardiff in the first round of the EDF Energy Cup, Philippe Saint-Andre says Mark Cueto and Andrew Sheridan of England, Ignacio and Juan Fernandez Lobbe of Argentina and Sebastien Chabal will all be involved against Bath at Edgeley Park on Friday night.

"We were blitzed in the first half hour at Cardiff on Friday and were on the back foot for too long," said Saint-Andre. "My French and England international players are now back in full training and they will all play against Bath."

Last season Sale reached the semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh competition, but this year have managed only three wins in seven league and cup games. "If Cardiff lose at Leicester this weekend our group is wide open," said Sale's director of rugby.

"That means we need to beat both Bath and Leicester to stand any chance of progressing to the semi-finals."

After the weekend allegations by Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt regarding Brian Ashton's leadership of England at the World Cup, another book is causing discomfort for a former national coach.

In his book Alfie, Gareth Thomas, Wales's world cup captain, claims Mike Ruddock, sacked after winning the 2005 Grand Slam, had let discipline within the squad slip. He says Welsh players were ready to ignore an order from Ruddock, who had asked them not to attend a night out in central London after defeat to England in 2006.

"Discipline was crumbling because it had been permitted to crumble," said Thomas. "Mike's authority was being challenged, leaving me to wonder whether he had properly exerted it in the first place."