Coach: SA sides just not up to it
MITCHELL: THE SQUADS ARE NOT SUPER RUGBY QUALITY
Ken Borland
Bulls coach John Mitchell named an unchanged starting XV for their penultimate Super Rugby game of the season, against the Jaguares at Loftus Versfeld tomorrow, and then launched into a tirade over how neither he nor any of the other local franchises have a topclass squad capable of winning the daunting southern hemisphere competition.
The only change to the squad that lost to the Sunwolves in Singapore last weekend is on the bench, with scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl, a new Springbok, replacing Andre Warner.
“This all we’ve got left, there are no other senior players, there’s a big difference between the SuperSport Rugby Challenge and Super Rugby and I’m not going to select Under-19s or Under-21s. We’ve had eight injuries to forwards who are out for a long time and the depth at the club is just not good enough,” Mitchell said yesterday.
“It’s something every South African team suffers from, all the squads are not entirely Super Rugby quality. Only once we have that will we have a chance to win this tournament. To just rely on a handful of Super Rugby-quality players is a joke. You end up putting young men in situations they’re not ready for.”
He acknowledged that fixing the issue is a complex matter, but he will be actively involved in finding the solution for the Bulls.
“It’s all about changing the model, we have to focus on quality, not quantity. We have to focus on the flagship and when we invest in juniors we have to be much more accurate. There will be a more developmental focus than a focus on selection, and I’ll be moving into the junior programme during the Currie Cup to make sure they are doing the same thing as the seniors and have an appreciation of the high-speed game.
“But we are also trying to strengthen the club moving forward by talking to some worldclass players, not just stock-standard players, not Currie Cup players. But the harsh reality is that I will have to tell some guys they no longer have a future here,” Mitchell said.