AUSTRALIA

News | Profile | Anthem | Fixtures | Results

Drew drawn by open space temptation

Thursday 20th November 2008

Drew Mitchell: Hoping for an open game, and more moments like these

Australian wing Drew Mitchell says he expects a more open game against France at the Stade de France on Saturday than the 28-14 win over England at Twickenham last weekend.

The Wallabies drew praise for the way they handled a supposedly superior English pack in that game, but Mitchell anticipates a different challenge from Marc Li�vremont's French side.

"They're a lot more flamboyant and they have quite a lot of variety in their attack," he said.

"They've got a big combative forward pack and they've got two big midfield centres, but they've also got guys in the halves and the nine and the ten who've got the skills to change the direction of the attack."

The Western Force wing was pleased with his defensive contribution against Martin Johnson's men, but makes no secret of the fact he hopes for greater opportunities to attack at the Stade du France.

"In the English game there wasn't a great deal of ball out wide, but defensively I was pretty happy with how things went. Conditions pending, hopefully the ball gets thrown around a little bit more [against France]."

Australia are over halfway through their autumn tour, and after a Bledisloe Cup defeat to New Zealand in Hong Kong, wins over Italy and England suggest they are starting to find some form.

Mitchell, though, is keen to guard against complacency, and is well aware that the Wallabies have struggled to maintain their intensity after big wins in the past.

"We've beaten the Springboks and backed it up with a pretty poor performance [a 53-8 defeat to South Africa in Johannesburg] and it was the same with the All Blacks, when we beat them and the same sort of thing [a 39-10 loss to New Zealand in Auckland] happened," he said.

"Although the feeling was a great one after the game against England, it'd be remiss of us to not go on with it and go out there [against France] with a lot of intensity and a lot of desire to win."

Having conquered the cauldron of Twickenham, Australia face an equally daunting task in front of a fervent home crowd in the French capital.

"It's up to us to get off to a good start," says Mitchell, acknowledging that the atmosphere is likely to be intense.

"But crowds tend not to be too energetic and enthusiastic if their team's on the wrong end of the scoreboard, so if we can just play well and start well, hopefully that won't be a factor."