Mitchell a force in mind games
John Mitchell, a master of the pre-game psychological build-up, has been saying plenty of nice things about his old club as the Western Force prepare to take on his new side, the Lions, in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Mitchell claimed his knowledge of the way some of the Force members play and his time as mentor to new coach Richard Graham would be of no benefit.
"There will be no real advantage from the fact I coached the Force because it is the same as Richard knowing me," he said.
"Teams change and the game changes, so it all comes down to their last three games.
"But that said, I was gutted for the Force last weekend because they deserved to win (Saturday's 22-all draw with the Blues). So they will be highly motivated when they meet us."
Hardly surprisingly he said the Force would be tough to beat.
"They have five Test players and eight former internationals, so they will come here with more experience than we have," he said.
"James O'Connor is one of the best backs in the world at the moment. It is good to see Cameron Shepherd back and Nathan Sharpe is an inspirational leader.
"They also have an unsung hero in Matthew Hodgson and the brilliant athleticism of Ben McCalman makes them a good team."
Mitchell's praise of McCalman is interesting as it is understood he did little to encourage the club to push the re-signing of the Wallaby.
"I also rate their scrum highly. So we know what their strengths are. But it is going to be tough match," he said.
Mitchell said the Lions would appeal against the three-week ban of full-back James Kamana, who was sent off for a tackle on Cheetah Robert Ebersohn on Saturday.
He claimed the tackle was not as bad as the one by Force centre Rory Sidey against the Sharks that earned him three weeks on the sidelines.
If the appeal fails Jaco Taute will reclaim his place in the starting line-up.
·Christchurch will not host Rugby World Cup games because of the damage caused by last month's earthquake.
The two quarterfinals scheduled for the city will be played in Auckland on October 8 and 9, while five pool matches involving Australia, England, Argentina, Italy, Georgia and Russia are to be moved.
The decision affects the Wallabies, who were scheduled to base themselves in Christchurch during the tournament.
The World Cup will run from September 9 to October 23.
