Sun, Oct 05, 2003 page23

• New Zealand's All Blacks prepare for an epic journey

  • AP
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  John Mitchell's depiction of the All Blacks' progress toward the rugby union World Cup as a "journey" has overlaid their campaign with an almost spiritual significance.

  Despite being the perennial favorite, New Zealand hasn't won the William Webb Ellis Trophy since 1987. And its pursuit of victory in ensuing years, more particularly its need for proof of its status as the world's top rugby nation, has become quest.

  Coach Mitchell has become the ascetic and unflinching leader of that pilgrimage. His severe methods and slow-burning determination have not always made him a popular figure and he has not managed entirely to carry the New Zealand public with him on his road.

  But on the cusp of the fifth World Cup and 16 years since they hosted and won the first edition, New Zealanders feel more confident that the trophy will again be theirs.

  There are still stumbling blocks, the largest of which may be a confident, well-resourced and meticulously prepared England team.

  But Mitchell's All Blacks also have a driving sense of confidence and thorough preparation.

  A World Cup victory would be a significant personal triumph for Mitchell, who was welcomed on his appointment two years ago as a man who would instill in New Zealand rugby values many feared had been lost: traditions of harsh physicality, teamwork and loyalty.

  He was seen as a forthright figure, direct and uncompromising, who, despite his moderate coaching experience, had a grounding in rugby's school of hard knocks.

  The All Blacks' performances early in his tenure were mediocre. Though his methods were questioned, Mitchell remained curtly insistent on the direction he'd chosen and sure of eventual success.

  There was then severe doubt and open criticism of Mitchell's stewardship following a narrow loss to England in Wellington and an unconvincing win over France earlier this season.

  And public disfavor became more entrenched when Mitchell excluded some of New Zealand's most senior and respected players from his World Cup squad.

  He dispensed with former captains Taine Randell and Anton Oliver and then, to much greater clamor, with the All Blacks' leading tryscorer Christian Cullen and top pointscorer Andrew Mehrtens.

  Mitchell's casually dismissive treatment of those players and his convoluted explanations of their absences left New Zealanders perplexed and disillusioned.

  He has been consistent, if not always transparent, in attempting to flush out the old guard and to establish a new squad which adheres to his methods.

  "It is 16 years since we won the World Cup," Mitchell said recently. "We have not got things right in that time and we must bring change.

  "We can't live off the past. For 16 years ... maybe we have been living in a false world because of too much tradition.

  "Loyalty is a great word but it does not exist in professional sport. [But] it is what players offer now and what we want now."

  Public opinion shifted over-whelmingly in Mitchell's favor in July when the All Blacks posted 50 points against South Africa and then Australia in their first matches in the Tri-Nations series.

  New Zealand won the championship for the second consecutive season and, to immense public delight, regained the Bledisloe Cup for trans-Tasman matches, which Australia had held for the past five years.

  New Zealand's confidence in its World Cup campaign, which opens Oct. 11 against Italy in Melbourne, is founded largely on those victories. There is now a grudging acceptance that while Mitchell might at times seem remote and obtuse, he has his team on a level keel.

  His characterization of the Cup campaign as a "journey" has been widely parodied but his achievements are no longer easily dismissed.

  One of the principal planks of Mitchell's coaching tenure and one of the most contentious has been his abiding faith in his new captain, flanker Reuben Thorne.

  In a team of many individual stars, the taciturn Thorne is by no means a standout player. His leadership is understated, rather than demonstrative and match statistics frequently suggest a moderate workrate.

  Still, Thorne is now bidding to become the first All Blacks captain since David Kirk in 1987 to win rugby's biggest prize. His perceived shortcomings will be quickly forgotten if he achieves that.

  "I've learned you go from zero to hero pretty quickly in this game," he said in a recent interview. "It's the same for the team, really. We got bagged when we were winning early on -- then a couple of good performances and everyone says you're good all of a sudden."

  Thorne said his leadership style was about creating unison.

  "I just try to encourage people and create an environment where they feel comfortable and can express themselves," he said. "We have to be confident in what we are doing, what we are about, the methods that we are using and the combinations that we are taking to the World Cup.

  "Hopefully we can do that and we can go there to be successful."

  The All Blacks prepared for the Cup, under Mitchell, in a series of camps in small provincial centers, always behind tight security and with limited public access.

  Mitchell has continued to cement the bonds of a team from which only eight members have previously been to a World Cup. Thorne is one of those.

  He has a group of journeymen forwards and a backline of untapped potential in which flyhalf Carlos Spencer and wings Doug Howlett and Joe Rokocoko are crucial and exciting members.
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