Mulvihill: Some big areas for Sam to improve
SAM Warburton has been urged to take a leaf out of Matt Giteau’s book if he wants to overtake David Pocock as the best openside flanker in the world.
The Wales captain will look to reclaim his place in the Cardiff Blues team when he returns from a season-long sabbatical in September.
But despite having captained the Lions on two successful tours new Blues head coach John Mulvihill believes Warburton needs to improve to get in his side. Mulvihill told The
Rugby Paper: “I still think Sam can go up a few levels.
“Even though Sam has been a British Lions captain and played a lot of Test rugby I said to him ‘you do want to get better don’t you?’ And he looked at me and said ‘yes I actually do’.
“I coached Matt Giteau a few years ago at the Western Force. He came to me and said ‘look I’ve played 60 Tests but I am not world class.’ ‘Can you help me become world class?
“We went through his game and focused on how we were going to attack some of his deficiencies. He was very left sided so we did half an hour extra after every training session for three months and he went out and kicked a 45m right foot field goal in a Bledisloe Cup Test match.
“That’s progress, when a 60 Test player wants to be better and Sam Warburton is in the same boat.”
Mulvihill believes Pocock is the man Warburton must overcome to become the world’s best. The 51-year-old identified both Pocock and former Wallaby utility back James O’Connor at a young age and was responsible for giving them their Super Rugby debuts.
“Sam tells me that David is the hardest opponent he has ever played against,” said Mulvihill.
“Pocock is a stronger carrier, he’s got some good footwork, he’s massively skilful. His handling, passing and footwork are really good so those are some of the things Sam can work on.
“Sam still thinks he can go up a few levels. He doesn’t think his pass is that good, he doesn’t have an offload and he needs to work on his carrying game. He’s well aware I won’t pick him if he isn’t playing well.”