John Mitchell..all black coach is racist

this is utter shit..a coach picks a team on form not color

Springboks Coach Backs Mitchell
19/07/2002 07:12 PM Geoff Young

South Africa coach Rudolph Straeuli defended his New Zealand counterpart John Mitchell at a news conference on Friday after former scrum-half Chris Laidlaw accused the All Blacks of choosing their teams along racial lines.

"For me as a coach I can't comment on that," said Straeuli, whose side meet New Zealand in a Tri-Nations match in Wellington on Saturday. "But I can say I know John Mitchell very well. I have played with him and coached with him. He is not a racist.

"I don't mind admitting that I like to see some controversy in New Zealand rugby on the eve of a big match. Maybe that will help us, but I won't hold my breath knowing the All Blacks and the way they play rugby."

Audio and Video
Racist Accusations - 19/07/2002 06:55 PM - All Black coach John Mitchell says he's deeply offended at a suggestion by former race relations conciliator Chris Laidlaw that he selects his team on race.. 56k | 125k | 300k


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Laidlaw said in the Wellington newspaper The Dominion Post on Friday that Mitchell and his assistant Robbie Deans had picked pakeha (non-Maori) players for the Tri-Nations matches against Australia last week and South Africa this Saturday because they made fewer errors.

"Setting aside a very tenuous Maori connection or two, this was essentially the All Whites dressed in black," said Laidlaw, who played for New Zealand in the 1960s.


i thought laidlaw was wel respected..

yeah I'd say.

Thats a big call to be making......

The 'race card' is getting really old, there will eventually be a public backlash.

seems like a pretty harsh accusation to me.

Sucks when people go screaming racism about things that aren't and nothing is said about real racism that happens elsewhere.

This is a classic case of the media taking statements out of context and the dominion post trying to create a bit of controversy. Laidlaw is basically saying that Mitchell is wanting to play a style of play that is different to the past and without the flair that maori and PI players tend to have. Hence we have probably the whitest all black team ever. He is not claiming mitchell is not selecting players because of the colour of their skin but that they're not being selected because they don't play the style of rugby he favours.

yeah what i heard on the telly last nite sounded like he had been totally misquoted. wankers

What a load of shit.

As if.

another example of the media creating news instead of reporting it.

It's cause canterbury kicked ass, and we all know that Cantab's are all skin head red necks. It's the Crusaders who are racist not Mitchell.

Note: This statement is just as ridiculous as suggesting an All Black coach picking on the basis of colour not form.