Mitchell is not afraid to take the Loe road

John Mitchell's appointment as All Blacks coach could result in the swift reinstatement of one of New Zealand's more notorious props, Richard Loe.

The former England coach's top priority is to restore the mean streak to a pack which has gone soft - and nobody would ever accuse Loe of turning the other cheek.

He has an impressive string of prior convictions and his name always provokes a strong reaction - so much so that when he was recalled to the Test team after one of his bans, 1950s All Blacks Kevin Skinner and Mark Irwin sent their blazers back to the Union in protest.

None of that is likely to bother Mitchell - 'Captain Grumpy', as his former Waikato teammates called him. 'Richard is very, very good at what he does,' he said. 'And we have a responsibility to win every game in an All Black jersey.'

Former coach John Hart welcomed Mitchell as the man to cure the forward malaise. 'If we get the pack right, we have the backs to equal anything in the world,' he said.