Attack let us down: Mitchell
Wayne Smith | March 23, 2009
Article from: The Australian
WESTERN Force coach John Mitchell believes his side needs to get a little trickier to help take the heat off the most marked man in Super 14, Matt Giteau.
There is no good way to lose in sport but the Force at least found the most acceptable way to go down to the Sharks in Perth on Saturday night, playing attractive, energetic rugby and being beaten by two turnover tries against the run of play just when they had the South Africans stretched in defence.
"At the end of the day, the guys brought to the game everything we asked for," Mitchell said yesterday following his side's 22-10 defeat at Subiaco Oval.
"I think it was some of the best rugby we've played this year. The Sharks won ugly and without a lot of possession but we didn't get enough conversion out of all the pressure we brought to bear."
Yet for all their commitment and spirit, the Force made it easy for the Sharks to hunt them down by being too premeditated in attack, according to Mitchell. "We needed to straighten our attack and sometimes bring in some deception," Mitchell said.
Much as young fullback James O'Connor and winger Drew Mitchell attempted to take some of the pressure off Giteau, there was a sameness to the Force attack that the Sharks' defenders ultimately found comfortable.
Certainly, Giteau asked questions of the defence every time he touched the ball and did enough late in the first half to get his side over the tryline but for the blundering interference of a slow-returning Deon Carstens, who earned a yellow card for his calculated try-saving professional foul.
But it was not until the 73rd minute, when the match was lost, that Giteau finally shook off his close markers long enough to conjure up a try for comeback Wallabies winger Scott Staniforth.
The day is coming, indeed it is not far away, when O'Connor will pose a threat every bit as potent as Giteau. As it is, he handled himself with such aplomb at fullback that Mitchell and his selection committee will have some serious head-scratching to do when Wallabies fullback Cameron Shepherd returns from injury after next weekend's bye for the annual grudge match against the Reds.
"Jimmy will certainly be considered in the front line (at inside centre) and at fullback," Mitchell said. "He took a bit of a blow to the head and was under duress there for a while but he showed a lot of composure and courage to keep playing very well."
Shepherd will not be the only Test player returning from the casualty ward to tackle the Reds. Wallabies number eight Richard Brown will also be back after recovering from the AC joint injury he sustained in the Force's last win, against the Brumbies three weeks ago.
The Force has slumped to 11th place but so crowded is the table that it is only a bonus-point win away from the top four.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html
