Lions coach John Mitchell attributed his team’s 24-20 home defeat by the Bulls on Saturday to a lack of team work at crucial stages in the game.
From Sport24
“The undoing of our first half was that we didn’t stick to plan and individualism cost us,” Mitchell said after the match.
“I’m not happy, I’m not interested in coming close and we’re going to have to learn very quickly that the mindset we need to have is that there is no pat on the back for coming second.”
Not even the fact that his team picked-up a bonus point for losing with less than seven points could turn Mitchell’s distinct frown into some form of a smile.
“There are a lot of positives, but again, coming second is not good enough and I’m not happy about the performance.”
During the opening stages of the match, the Lions were guilty of giving away possession in areas where they could easily have scored if they had been more patient – or less selfish as the coach highlighted.
He was also frustrated with then manner in which his team struggled at the scrums, while their deviation from the original plan made his blood pressure rise
“If the boys had stuck to plan, it was all there, sitting there available.”
The Lions were trailing 24-5 at halftime and knew they had to score tries if they were to catch up to the defending champions and so, on many occasions when they were awarded penalties inside a kickable range, they opted instead for lineouts.
Their success rate in the Bulls 22, however, was still not good enough to win.
Mitchell said he had no problem with the on-field decisions that were made in the second half.
“You won’t win this competition kicking goals,” he said.
“You’ve got to be a four-try team and we certainly have that ability to be just that.
“We had to get ourselves back into the contest and we did that through playing football and not through kicking balls through the posts.
“What was costly was the miss at the start, also conversions – and they became costly.”
The Lions’ next match is against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Having fallen asleep on the couch 5 minutes after kickoff and waking up 10 minutes from the end….I don’t have much constructive comment. But I did pick the Lions to take this by the narrowest of margins. A couple of injuries lurking already this early in the season, I think they will battle for the rest of the tournament personally.
So. are Lions Rugby (PTY) LTD and the GLRU going to accept this opinion, or are they going to look for excuses, reasons, and scape goats.
Mitchell is the real deal I’m afraid.
If the Lions are ever going to win a REAL Super Rugby title, it’ll be with this no nonsense man at the helm.
However, sometimes those 3 pointers can be the difference between 4 or 5 points and 1.
Go Lions.
@ Scrumdown:
Yes that is a good question, look they did not like the hard stance by Assistent coach Boshoff a while back..
I like his honesty!
Nice and to the point Mr Mitchell. Well done.
Must admit after the hammering I took last week from my Lions buddies I still can’t help feeling f-all for them but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and at this point it does not seem the be the devil with a torch.
@ KWAGGA ROBERTSE:
and nothing really changed yet, they are still losing. The Stormers are better prepared in match situations and their defense is even better than the Bulls. So what will it be next Monday?
Respect for John Mitchell… he is the real deal!
Mitchell is simply not happy with a near win, he wants to win!
The Lions looked fitter and very well conditioned…. and that will stand them in good stead as the Competition goes on!
The Bulls looked composed in the first half but with possession by the Lions against them in the second half nearly stuttered.
I’ve said for a while now… the modern game is all about possession and retaining ball… the rules favour the side with possession.
Week 1 gone, we start afresh…. and this week the Cheetahs wait for the Bulls, the Stormers wait for the Lions…
grootblousmile wrote:
Net soos Buurman van Zyl , HM en FL is. Die dissipline wat nou terug is in die Leeu kamp kan nogal op baie plekke in SA toegepas word.
Bulle het 1ste helfte 24-5 gewen (19 punteverskil), die Leeus het 2de helfte 15-0 gewen. Elke span was dus een helfte goed en een helfte minder goed. Albei sou waardige wenners gewees het, Bulle het hul kanse beter gebruik en het daarom aan die einde van die dag 4-0 gewen, welverdiend.
sien craig joubert blaas die bulle cheetahs game eish….. Nuff said
The Lions seemed to play with naivity. They score a try and then they want to run from their red zone, make a mistake and concede points, then they repeat the same mistake again.
I don’t rate their backline very highly either, if the Bulls didn’t go into a doze in the second half the Lions wouldn’t have scored those 2 tries.
I fear the Lions will still make up the rear this season.
11@ biltongbek:
Cannot agree with you!
You should have seen John Mitchell afterwards…. I was present at that after match press conference…
He is the real deal and made it very simple, he’s happy with nothing but winning, coming close is simply not good enough.
The Lions are very fit and extremely well conditioned… the little mistakes will get less and less and the option taking will improve as the season continues on….
@ grootblousmile:
GBS, I agree with you on John Mitchell, but realistically he still doesn’t have the players.
grootblousmile wrote:
The Force may only have won four matches in 2010, but that did include victories over semi-finalists the Stomers and Crusaders. The tenuous relationship between coach John Mitchell and the Force players was always going to make success difficult and questions still remain over the appointment of Mitchell’s understudy Richard Graham.
There was a player strike also , so watch this space , i am watching and wondering. Is he perhaps on his own page/mission and does he have the leadership qualities to get his troops also on that page.
Remember a new broom…..
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