Whitelock disappointed by team

The Press

GEORGE WHITELOCK: "It's more of a mental game for us at the moment [and] we've really got to get those top two inches right to then be proud of our performance.''

Relevant offers

News

Rogue Sevens tackler drank 24 beers Alcohol crackdown planned for Sevens G-strings on the outer at the Sevens Record crowd as Saracens end Harlequins run Eddie Jones set to replace Kirwan as Japan coach ABs book seized in Spain over drug reference Charged Ex-All Black was celebrating Cup win School rugby breakaway comp 'abhorrent' Famous All Blacks bus up for auction Steve Hansen 'wants a crack" at top ABs job

These haven't been happy weeks for George Whitelock.

A man of action, having to catalogue the ways in which his team continues to disappoint him hasn't come naturally to the Canterbury captain.

In the normal scheme of things, his response to seeing someone opt out of a tackle or make a frivolous pass would be to barrel the next opposition bloke dumb enough to carry the ball within his vicinity.

Instead, his side's stuttering form has seen Whitelock have to use terms such as "embarrassed',' "bullied" and "hurt" when he would rather not be talking at all.

Coming into tonight's clash with Auckland at AMI Stadium, it appears Whitelock is done with the chat.

"We've had a pretty honest week and it's time to front up on Saturday," the skipper said.

"We need to put a good performance out there, really put our bodies on the line and be committed for the full 80 [minutes].

"We've been slow starting all year so we'll just focus on the start initially and start from there.

"We've tended to score points and then concede points straight away, so that's going to be a big focus, just keeping that pressure going and not switching off at any time.

"It's more of a mental game for us at the moment [and] we've really got to get those top two inches right to then be proud of our performance."

Everyone in the Canterbury camp will tell you that the team traditionally starts its campaigns slowly. Well, a draw with Hawke's Bay, a one-point win against Manawatu, a flattering victory over an ordinary North Harbour team and then a two-point loss to Tasman is pretty sluggish indeed.

You can't expect Canterbury to win every week, but you can expect them to display a few clues.

Take some of their set-piece defence, for example. Manawatu's Tomasi Cama exposed them there a few weeks back, before Tasman did the same last Saturday when Tom Marshall strolled in behind the posts.

"They pinched that move off us," Canterbury first five-eighth Colin Slade said of Marshall's try.

"We scored against them with that exact same move pre-season and then they turned around and did it to us.

"We knew it was coming, too. It was the same set-up and everything. That's not good enough."

You'll get no argument here.

- © Fairfax NZ News