0
Auckland doesn't respect Western Force: John Mitchell
- Wayne Smith, Rugby union editor
- From: The Australian
- April 16, 2010 12:00AM
WESTERN Force coach John Mitchell has a pretty good idea what to expect from the Auckland Blues at Eden Park on Saturday - a lack of respect.
He expects them to be ferocious too, and angrily on the rebound after losing last weekend to the Stormers just a week after they beast the previously undefeated Bulls. But mostly he expects that them to be dismissive of his side.
"I don't think there is respect there for us and never has been," said Mitchell, whose side has won its last two matches, against the Stormers and Highlanders. And significantly the last time the Force played the Blues on NZ soil, in 2008, they won 27-17.
Yet despite recent and more distant history, Mitchell senses that the Blues will feel confident they can blow his side away. "They'll physically try to bash us at the breakdown and then on our carry," he predicted. "Once their first phase attack is shut down, they'll try to carve us up the middle."
One would think that a little more sophistication would be required to unpick a Force side that now is close to full strength. Certainly the way they finished against the Highlanders, with Wallabies David Pocock, Ryan Cross, James O'Connor and Cameron Shepherd all running riot, should have triggered if not respect then a certain wariness in the Blues camp.
Intriguingly, former All Black five-eighth David Hill told the NZ Herald this week he believes the Force coaches and players spend more time studying and planning for games than he recalled NZ sides doing.
"I recall New Zealand teams relying more on their natural instincts than perhaps we do at the Force," said Hill, who answered Mitchell's mid-season SOS to come to the aid of the injury-ravaged Perth side rather than take a break after the Japanese season.
Mitchell yesterday had the chance to name an unchanged side for the first time this season but instead has brought Nic Henderson in at loosehead to give Pek Cowan a rest while also giving Nathan Charles the chance in his run-on debut to prove he can offer more at hooker than the promising Ben Whitaker.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225854289405