Red Roses ace MacDonald backing boss Mitchell to guide England to World Cup glory
The 61-year-old former New Zealand men's boss took the reins at Allianz Stadium in 2023 and has since led his side to back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams
MacDonald feels Mitchell has the squad in the right frame of mind to win a trophy
(Image: Richard Washbrooke/Imagecomms)
Claudia MacDonald believes the 'incredibly honest' John Mitchell is the right man to lead the Red Roses to global glory this summer.
The 61-year-old former New Zealand men's boss took the reins at Allianz Stadium in 2023 and has since led his side to back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams.
England are currently the world's number one ranked side and are enjoying a 25-game unbeaten run stretching back to the 2022 final, in which New Zealand became world champions.
But this time around, winger MacDonald feels Mitchell has the squad in the right frame of mind to win a trophy that has eluded them since 2014.
Red Roses LG
'John Mitchell has been an absolute game changer for us,' she said, as part of a new LG OLED TV collaboration ahead of this summer. 'It is always about having the right coach at the right time and he is the coach we needed at this time.
'He is an incredibly honest person. He is himself and he does silly things which makes him more human. It means that we can do silly things, and it reduces the expectation on each of us to be perfect.
'Naturally we're all incredibly competitive, but I think the way that he conducts himself, he drives high standards, he wants us to be the best version of ourselves, but he also recognises that comes with making mistakes along the journey. He values the mistakes and the errors as much as he does the bits that we get right.
'That is huge for us as a team. To get to a new place where we are even better than we already are, know that we can make mistakes, that we can learn from them, and we can be better for it.'
MacDonald is hoping England's exploits on the pitch this summer can take the women's game to new heights, a task that will be aided by all matches being broadcast on free-to-air television.
And the 29-year-old is looking forward to her sport having elevated visibility across the country.
'The live free-to-air TV is huge because you pick up so many more fans,' continued MacDonald. 'The biggest barrier that we face in women's rugby is getting people to watch it.
'I've never really heard someone say they watched [women's rugby], and they hated it. It is always, they watched it, they loved it, and they were surprised they did.
'Being live in the middle of the day is going to be massive because people can just easily pop it on TV and they will see us. It will bring new people to the game.' LG is helping the nation get closer to the action with LG OLED TVs.
Life's Good for sport fans as LG's leading technology provides an unmatched immersive sporting atmosphere thanks to incredible OLED picture quality, Motion Pro technology for the smoothest action possible and unbelievable soundbar surround sound to bring the stadium feeling home.
The action this summer will also provide MacDonald with the chance to build on her recent run in the side and put her recent injury woes behind her.
The Exeter Chiefs star has spent two lengthy spells out with neck injuries in recent years, admitting she considered retirement and was left 'terrified to be near a rugby pitch'.
But now back to full fitness, she is ready to make up for lost time having missed the most recent tournament three years ago.
'I love being around the girls, that is where you want to be,' she added.
'You want to be pushing through the hard work together because you come out stronger as a team.
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'I've loved being back and hopefully I can put my best foot forward.'
Members of the Red Roses England women's rugby team joined a recent training session with LG and girls from Turing House School in Whitton, Richmond as part of the leading TV manufacturer's ongoing partnership with the RFU. The LG All In Pledge encourages people to engage and watch women's sport. Together we can grow support through fandom and audience numbers to inspire new players to pick up the sport themselves, as watching changes everything. For more information, go to www.lg.com/UK/pledge.
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