Valentine's Views: Randwick star Drew Mitchell unlucky to see 'RED'

The week of discussion on the state of the pitch lived up to all predictions. The pitch reminded me of a construction site at times, especially after a scrum on the All Blacks line, early in the second half.

As a player I personally had serious concerns for the safety of the team, especially our front row forwards when scrummaging.

The match lived up to all expectations. The match-up between Richie McCaw and David Pocock was outstanding. Both were superb in all facets of open play. I am biased but Pocock was man of the match for mine.

The sin-binning of Owen Franks and Drew Mitchell in the first half had a huge effect on the game. The All Blacks benefited by posting points in this period while the Wallabies struggled to take full advantage.

An interesting fact that most punters would have missed is while All Black prop Franks was sin-binned for 10 minutes, there were no scrums.

The other main issue for the Wallabies was possession but also the quality of possession.

The second yellow card early in the second half saw both Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and Mitchell seeing red.

The Australian backs struggled to find space in the second half. It is my belief that astute use of tactical kicking would have slowed the All Blacks' rush defense. It may have given our backline the space and time they needed.

The Wallabies have another chance in Christchurch this weekend to make amends - but it looks a difficult task.

In professional sport a week is a long time and a lot can happen.

The Randwick team had a shock loss to Southern Districts on Saturday. We failed to take advantage of our dominance in territory and possession.

This week we will have to examine our tactical use of the ball on attack.

The game against Warringah at Coogee this Saturday takes on a huge significance.

We need you all at Coogee - up the Wicks.

From: Southern Courier