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The Clubhouse Bar
John Mitchell.
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<blockquote data-quote="BigTen" data-source="post: 62229"><p>One thing that no-one has mentioned is Mitchell's role in building an England squad (specifically the forwards) into a world-cup winning one. I believe that it was Mitchell that injected the steel into England and the win-at-all-costs mentallity that England teams stereotypically lack.</p><p></p><p>Mitchell did make some mistakes before and during the World Cup campaign I do not deny that but I think that he also did a lot of things well.</p><p></p><p>Losing Umaga in the Italy game was a big loss and it had the biggest effect on the whole campaign. He was not, and could not have been replaced and the All Blacks missed him. Thorne was always a quiet captain who would lead not by words but by action. For me he has always been a quiet achiever - only people that really know their rugby seem to appreciate him and the amount of work that he gets through in a game.</p><p></p><p>The only thing wrong about him was that he didn't fit into the typical role of All Black captain - Fitzpatrick, Shelford etc.</p><p></p><p>The loss of Umaga and the style of captaincy were big factors. But another factor was that no-one else in the All Black squad stepped up to support Thorne. And this is supported in that when looking for a new All Black's captain only McCaw is in contention. So many great players no obvious captain.</p><p></p><p>Most great teams always have at least two, if not three or even more, players that take an active role in leading the team.</p><p></p><p>England had at least three during the world cup and this took a lot of pressure of MJ and if he was ever playing under his best he could give the nod to Lawrence and concentrate on his game for a while until he had everything under control again.</p><p></p><p>Should John Mitchell be in the hall of shame? No way! Give the guy more time to tie his own noose - if he is as bad as some seem to think then time will prove them right.</p><p></p><p>There are far more obvious people that should be inducted first.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BigTen, post: 62229"] One thing that no-one has mentioned is Mitchell's role in building an England squad (specifically the forwards) into a world-cup winning one. I believe that it was Mitchell that injected the steel into England and the win-at-all-costs mentallity that England teams stereotypically lack. Mitchell did make some mistakes before and during the World Cup campaign I do not deny that but I think that he also did a lot of things well. Losing Umaga in the Italy game was a big loss and it had the biggest effect on the whole campaign. He was not, and could not have been replaced and the All Blacks missed him. Thorne was always a quiet captain who would lead not by words but by action. For me he has always been a quiet achiever - only people that really know their rugby seem to appreciate him and the amount of work that he gets through in a game. The only thing wrong about him was that he didn't fit into the typical role of All Black captain - Fitzpatrick, Shelford etc. The loss of Umaga and the style of captaincy were big factors. But another factor was that no-one else in the All Black squad stepped up to support Thorne. And this is supported in that when looking for a new All Black's captain only McCaw is in contention. So many great players no obvious captain. Most great teams always have at least two, if not three or even more, players that take an active role in leading the team. England had at least three during the world cup and this took a lot of pressure of MJ and if he was ever playing under his best he could give the nod to Lawrence and concentrate on his game for a while until he had everything under control again. Should John Mitchell be in the hall of shame? No way! Give the guy more time to tie his own noose - if he is as bad as some seem to think then time will prove them right. There are far more obvious people that should be inducted first. [/QUOTE]
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