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Christchurch - Drew Mitchell has vowed to not let his Wallabies team-mates down again after suffering the indignity of being the first Australian player to be sent off in 23 years.
The Wallabies winger, who found himself back in the Test line-up one week after being dropped from the Australian squad, accepted responsibility for having to watch the final 37 minutes of the 49-28 Melbourne Bledisloe Cup loss from the sideline after incurring two yellow cards.
His expulsion was the first suffered by a Wallaby since David Codey in 1987. Mitchell will be out for redemption on Saturday if, as is expected, he retains his spot for the second Bledisloe Cup Test at AMI Stadium, having run on the left wing for all of Tuesday's training session in Christchurch. He said after training that his sending off was probably the most humiliating moment of his football career.
''It was stupid on my behalf. I shouldn't have put the referee in a situation to make a decision like that and, in both circumstances, it could have been avoided. It is certainly not a highlight of my career,'' Mitchell said on Tuesday.
His two yellow-card offences may have been relatively minor - a dangerous tackle, followed by obstruction when the All Blacks were attempting a quick lineout - but Mitchell refused to make any excuses.
''It was a poor decision on my behalf and it really let the team down. I took things in my own hands and so in the end had to watch quite a lot of the game,'' he said. ''Essentially, I was the one who did it after being warned, so there's not a great deal I can whinge about.
''Walking off the field wasn't great. I had the pleasure of a cameraman sitting about a metre away in front of me for the remainder of the game, waiting for me to show some sort of reaction. But it was a pretty lonely time and one which you are just embarrassed about. You know you're better than that.
''There was frustration … all of that. I'd never been sent off before. And I've only had one yellow card in my career [in the 2007 World Cup against Wales]. Then there were times in the Test where we certainly could have done with an extra man, and you're sitting there watching and feeling helpless.''
Mitchell was cautious about using the Christchurch Test as payback. He realises the dangers of trying too hard to right past wrongs.
''If I get the opportunity, I don't want to overplay things. That's when you could find yourself in a bit of trouble. All I want to do is when I get an opportunity is to have a positive impact,'' Mitchell said.
The greatest difficulty in encountering the All Blacks is their intensity as ''they want to play the ball more compared to the Springboks''.
The Wallabies winger, who found himself back in the Test line-up one week after being dropped from the Australian squad, accepted responsibility for having to watch the final 37 minutes of the 49-28 Melbourne Bledisloe Cup loss from the sideline after incurring two yellow cards.
His expulsion was the first suffered by a Wallaby since David Codey in 1987. Mitchell will be out for redemption on Saturday if, as is expected, he retains his spot for the second Bledisloe Cup Test at AMI Stadium, having run on the left wing for all of Tuesday's training session in Christchurch. He said after training that his sending off was probably the most humiliating moment of his football career.
''It was stupid on my behalf. I shouldn't have put the referee in a situation to make a decision like that and, in both circumstances, it could have been avoided. It is certainly not a highlight of my career,'' Mitchell said on Tuesday.
His two yellow-card offences may have been relatively minor - a dangerous tackle, followed by obstruction when the All Blacks were attempting a quick lineout - but Mitchell refused to make any excuses.
''It was a poor decision on my behalf and it really let the team down. I took things in my own hands and so in the end had to watch quite a lot of the game,'' he said. ''Essentially, I was the one who did it after being warned, so there's not a great deal I can whinge about.
''Walking off the field wasn't great. I had the pleasure of a cameraman sitting about a metre away in front of me for the remainder of the game, waiting for me to show some sort of reaction. But it was a pretty lonely time and one which you are just embarrassed about. You know you're better than that.
''There was frustration … all of that. I'd never been sent off before. And I've only had one yellow card in my career [in the 2007 World Cup against Wales]. Then there were times in the Test where we certainly could have done with an extra man, and you're sitting there watching and feeling helpless.''
Mitchell was cautious about using the Christchurch Test as payback. He realises the dangers of trying too hard to right past wrongs.
''If I get the opportunity, I don't want to overplay things. That's when you could find yourself in a bit of trouble. All I want to do is when I get an opportunity is to have a positive impact,'' Mitchell said.
The greatest difficulty in encountering the All Blacks is their intensity as ''they want to play the ball more compared to the Springboks''.
