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Mitchell far from satisfied
10/03/2008 12:43:00 PM
Chris Pike
Sportal
Western Force coach John Mitchell is far from satisfied from just challenging but losing a close battle with the top-of-the-table Crusaders and he was left ruing some poor skill errors after leading by 12 points.
Early in the second half the Force led 24-12 and looked set to win their first home game of the season after winning two from three games in South Africa and Mitchell believes the Force need to start winning those types of games in their third season.
"We have grown more since the first year and we aren't satisfied with the outcome. We have to learn quickly and can't continue to lose to a flagship team when an opportunity presents itself," Mitchell said.
"We blew it ourselves. Our execution let us down as the match wore on, but at 24-12 we didn't sustain enough pressure down their end. If we could have, things might have been different but we gave momentum to them and they capitalised."
It was far from all negatives, though, for Mitchell's men and a performance like that against most sides in the competition would bring victory. The four tries and much of the play was encouraging, as is the continued encouraging form of rugby league convert Ryan Cross and openside flanker David Pocock.
"The positives were the fact that we kept going at them and stressed them where we wanted to. We were very urgent in support and strong in the carry for 60 minutes and our set pieces were good for the most part. Just the fact that we kept going at it was impressive," he said.
"Ryan is playing very good rugby at the moment and that is showing that he is adapting to the game well. He's in great condition, a great space upstairs and really believes in himself now."
"Pocock is a phenomenal athlete and is so focused. He learns and adapts very quickly, is built for the No. 7 position and for the hammering he gets there. He has an international rugby future, but he also has a lot of competition."
"We are lucky in Australia that we have three openside flankers and then you can't forget (Julian) Salvi at the Brumbies and (David) Croft at Queensland."
Mitchell now returns to New Zealand to coach his side in games against the Blues and Highlanders. After performing well in South Africa again, Mitchell is now desperate to see his side transfer that form to New Zealand.
"It's a trip that is important to us. We've had to learn from our two previous years and we are looking forward to it. It's something we've always planned for knowing that we will be away for five of the first six week and this is a very important leg for us," he said.
"We have a shorter week, which is kind of good as it gets the mind back on the job quicker. We will work hard on our second day and then we fly to New Zealand."
"Our road trip this year is only nine days, so we go to Auckland and Queenstown and there should be a bit more activity in those two places than our previous two trips."