Beating Blues would suit Mitchell’s plans
While the Blues may have had other things on their mind this week, like the decision to advertise for next year’s coach, the Lions have been quietly been preparing for tonight’s game at Eden Park.
A couple of days ago this would have been seen as a game that even this awful Blues side should win, but the imminent dumping of Pat Lam for next season as head coach has thrown the franchise into further turmoil. Take Chris Lowrey, Rene Ranger and George Moala out of the starting team through injury and everything starts to swing into the Lions’ favour.
Their coach, John Mitchell, may come into the frame as Blues coach next season, especially if he runs on the same ticket as local icon Carlos Spencer, who’s the Lions’ assistant coach.
The uncertainty over whether the Lions will still be a Super Rugby team next year because of the introduction of the Southern Kings may also entice the former All Blacks coach back to New Zealand.
If he were interested, beating the Blues tonight certainly wouldn’t harm his cause.
Mitchell may have his critics in New Zealand for how he conducted himself nine years ago at the World Cup, but he is an astute coach.
He’ll know that the Hurricanes exposed the Blues numerous times last weekend when they went wide and his side’s impressive driving maul could also cause plenty of damage.
The Lions are also on a long losing streak, having not won a game since they beat the Cheetahs in week one, but unlike the Blues they are showing signs of improvement.
Scoring three tries against the Chiefs last weekend was no mean feat and Mitchell says he was pleased with some aspects of that game, but would like to see further improvements tonight.
‘‘We’re still being a little bit impatient; we didn’t look after the ball for long enough and we didn’t recover from turnover ball,’’ Mitchell said.
‘‘We need to work harder and fight harder as a group, regardless of whether things are going for us or not.
‘‘We got a lot out of last weekend’s performance and there were a lot of encouraging things, but we did still do some silly things.
‘‘We’re trying to get the balance right and we didn’t feel that we played as well