John Mitchel Has FAITH!

[Darren]

Emirates Western Force head coach John Mitchell has shown faith in his team for Friday’s clash against the Stormers, making only one change to the side that lost to the Highlanders.

Flyhalf James Hilgendorf is the sole omission after suffering a groin strain in last week’s game. He is replaced by Matt Giteau at pivot, with Junior Pelesasa moving from the bench to inside centre and Scott Daruda coming into the 22.

Mitchell said it would take time for relationships and an understanding between players to develop and he would not be rushed into making positional changes in the absence of injury.

“We have decided to put the onus on the same group to be accountable,” he said.

“We are about helping players grow and giving them a chance to improve their game. But that brings with it responsibility, and the players must better their performance.”

Mitchell said areas for improvement had been identified and had been worked on at training, with particular focus on sticking to the team’s playing method.

“It’s critical that we improve the way we execute our method, and do it together, bringing more accuracy and patience to our game,” he said.

Mitchell said playing any of the South African teams in South Africa was an exciting challenge which, in its short history, the team had responded well to.

During their three week tour of South Africa last season, the Emirates Western Force beat the Cheetahs in Kimberley, finished level with the Cats (now known as the Lions) in Johannesburg and went down to the Sharks in Durban.

“The Stormers will be keen to bounce back from their loss last week, just as we are, but we see playing at Newlands as a great opportunity,” Mitchell said.

“They have an international standard backrow, so it should be quite a battle in the loose and I imagine both sides will lose some bark!”

The squad is:
1. Gareth Hardy
2. Brendan Cannon
3. Troy Takiari
4. Rudi Vedelago
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. David Pusey
7. Richard Brown
8. Scott Fava

9. Matt Henjak
10. Matt Giteau
11. Cameron Shepherd
12. Junior Pelesasa
13. Ryan Cross
14. Scott Staniforth
15. Drew Mitchell

16. Tai McIsaac
17. Angus Scott
18. Luke Doherty
19. David Pocock
20. Chris O’Young
21. Scott Daruda
22. Haig Sare

[Shaun]

Drew at #15 is bullshit! Digby should be in place of Daruda... because haig can cover #13.

[joblot]

Emirates Western Force head coach John Mitchell has shown faith in his team for Friday’s clash against the Stormers, making only one change to the side that lost to the Highlanders.

Flyhalf James Hilgendorf is the sole omission after suffering a groin strain in last week’s game. He is replaced by Matt Giteau at pivot, with Junior Pelesasa moving from the bench to inside centre and Scott Daruda coming into the 22.

Mitchell said it would take time for relationships and an understanding between players to develop and he would not be rushed into making positional changes in the absence of injury.

“We have decided to put the onus on the same group to be accountable,” he said.

“We are about helping players grow and giving them a chance to improve their game. But that brings with it responsibility, and the players must better their performance.”

Mitchell said areas for improvement had been identified and had been worked on at training, with particular focus on sticking to the team’s playing method.

“It’s critical that we improve the way we execute our method, and do it together, bringing more accuracy and patience to our game,” he said.

Mitchell said playing any of the South African teams in South Africa was an exciting challenge which, in its short history, the team had responded well to.

During their three week tour of South Africa last season, the Emirates Western Force beat the Cheetahs in Kimberley, finished level with the Cats (now known as the Lions) in Johannesburg and went down to the Sharks in Durban.

“The Stormers will be keen to bounce back from their loss last week, just as we are, but we see playing at Newlands as a great opportunity,” Mitchell said.

“They have an international standard backrow, so it should be quite a battle in the loose and I imagine both sides will lose some bark!”

The squad is:
1. Gareth Hardy
2. Brendan Cannon
3. Troy Takiari
4. Rudi Vedelago
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. David Pusey
7. Richard Brown
8. Scott Fava

9. Matt Henjak
10. Matt Giteau
11. Cameron Shepherd
12. Junior Pelesasa
13. Ryan Cross
14. Scott Staniforth
15. Drew Mitchell

16. Tai McIsaac
17. Angus Scott
18. Luke Doherty
19. David Pocock
20. Chris O’Young
21. Scott Daruda
22. Haig Sare

This is Drew Mitchell's reprieve. I will continue to maintain that Sheps is the best fullback we have. Go on Drew, prove me wrong.

[travelling_gerry]

thats the stuff.....put him back up on the horse.....

[The InnFORCEr]

i agree straight back on for now

[The Lone Hydrangea]

He will never play that bad again! Still like to see him and Shep swap.

[Ecky]

Remember the back 3, i.e 11, 14 & 15 are pretty much interchangeable these days.

So she'll be right, don't panic people. As has been said before, Drew has had his shocker and will be keener than ever to make up for it.

Just wait, you'll see...

[Vanilla Ice]

Forget fullback. The real problem is the loose forwards where the Stormers are world class and the Force second rate. Our achilles heel.

[RugbyFan]

I wouldn't call our loose forwards second rate. Force can effectively have 2 openside flankers and one blindside at a time. Having Browney play 6, Pocock at 7 and Doherty in 2nd row. You can't say that Richard Brown, David Pocock and Scott Fava are 2nd rate. I predict big things from Richard and David and bigger things from Scott.

oh and Shaun, Haig covers 12,14,15. Daruda covers 10,12,15. Digby covers wing (but is rarely effective because he doesn't hang on to the ball). Once Digby gets on top of his game, he will be unstoppable. Until then he has to continue working hard on his flaws and hopefully crack into the side. I reckon he can do it.

I also believe in keeping Drew at fullback, if worst comes to worst, he can be swapped with Shepherd (which should have happened last week, probably cost us the game!).


My $2 worth.

[slomo]

if drew mitchell has another shocker this week, (and im one who hopes he doesnt), where does that leave him in regards, to a walk up start the following week?

[Moses]

I'm suprised he didn't slot Stanners into 12..

[inactive]

i thought spanner would of moved to centres and digby on wing with drew and sheps fullback. That would of made a better line up

[The EnForcer]

I wouldn't call our loose forwards second rate. Force can effectively have 2 openside flankers and one blindside at a time. Having Browney play 6, Pocock at 7 and Doherty in 2nd row. You can't say that Richard Brown, David Pocock and Scott Fava are 2nd rate. I predict big things from Richard and David and bigger things from Scott.

oh and Shaun, Haig covers 12,14,15. Daruda covers 10,12,15. Digby covers wing (but is rarely effective because he doesn't hang on to the ball). Once Digby gets on top of his game, he will be unstoppable. Until then he has to continue working hard on his flaws and hopefully crack into the side. I reckon he can do it.

I also believe in keeping Drew at fullback, if worst comes to worst, he can be swapped with Shepherd (which should have happened last week, probably cost us the game!).


My $2 worth.

good one....I'll buy that for a Dollar

I don't think somebody of Drew's calibre will have another shocker.

Sir John certainly sticks by his plan and I'm sure it will pan out the way he believes...I have the faith!

[Burgs]

Firstly, does anyone else think that the bloke front right on the above photo looks like Chevy Chase???



I agree with TEF that Mitch has a plan and while a plan needs some ability for change it does no one any good to be making major changes every week.
Personally I too would have moved Stanners back to #12, no surprises there for most of you however, I do know that Junior has been doing a lot of the pre season at Inside Centre and by all reports has been pretty sharp there.
It was probably a decision between Junior and Digby and then build the team around that preference.
From this you can probably safely assume that Mitch ranks them Junior, Haig, Digby, Scotty Daruda in terms of merit and while options are available then that is how he will select them.
As for Mitchell v Shepherd, I definately rate Shep as the better Fullback, by far, however in a season like this it could be very detrimental to drop or change positions on Mitch without him turning his form around.
Very few bar the hardened moaners would believe that last weekend was anything but a crappy night for an otherwise talented player for Mitch, he is far better than that. That said, if he is still struggling at the break on Friday then the change will have to be made and put him back out on the Wing.
3/26ths of the season is enough to be proven the right or wrong player for a position.
In terms of a plan for the future, if winning was the only criteria for J Mitch then D Mitch would have been dragged last weekend however we must build and we should respect what J Mitch has said all along, it's a three year project.

[Burgs]

Preview: Stormers v Western Force

Story by: Sportal

Venue & time: Newlands, Cape Town. Saturday, February 10, 3am (AEDT).

Head to head: Played 1: Stormers 1 Force 0

Last time: Subiaco Oval (Perth). March 31, 2006 - Stormers 26 - 25 Force

Walking wounded & team changes

Stormers lock Selborne Boome is out of this week's clash with a stomach bug, while Ross Skeate is sidelined with an ankle injury. Versatile Springboks forward Gerrie Britz will come into the team with the promising Francois van der Merwe likely to be called-up to the bench.
Western Force flyhalf James Hilgendorf has to a groin strain and is out of this week's match. Inside centre Matt Giteau will move to the pivot's role with Junior Pelesasa to come into the side at Number 12. Scott Daruda wins a spot on the bench. Other than that the Force is running with the same squad as last week.

Form

The Stormers were disappointing in their 27-9 loss to the Cheetahs last week. They turned over too much possession in the lineouts, scrums and breakdowns, while the tactical kicking game of flyhalf Naas Olivier was poor.
The Western Force showed glimpses of their attacking potential but simply made far too many mistakes and they paid the price for their lack of focus with a one-point loss.

Who's hot

Stormers loose forwards Joe van Niekerk and Schalk Burger showed some muscle against the Cheetahs last week, while fullback Conrad Jantjes and winger Gio Aplon stood-out in a relatively subdued backline.
The Force's Matt Giteau looked dangerous whenever he got the ball last week, while centre partner and recent rugby league convert Ryan Cross also looked threatening in attack. Skipper Nathan Sharpe also worked hard.

Teams:

Stormers (yet to be announced)

Western Force
1. Gareth Hardy,
2. Brendan Cannon,
3. Troy Takiari,
4. Rudi Vedelago,
5. Nathan Sharpe (c),
6. David Pusey,
7. Richard Brown,
8. Scott Fava;
9. Matt Henjak,
10. Matt Giteau,
11. Cameron Shepherd,
12. Junior Pelesasa,
13. Ryan Cross,
14. Scott Staniforth,
15. Drew Mitchell.
16. Tai McIsaac,
17. Angus Scott,
18. Luke Doherty,
19. David Pocock,
20. Chris O'Young,
21. Scott Daruda,
22. Haig Sare.