The appointment of John Mitchell as All Blacks coach has received a mixed reaction in New Zealand.

Former All Black great Colin Meads revealed he di not think Mitchell was the right man for the job.

Meads said: "I wish them well, and I hope it does work, but I'm a bit cautious. They say he [Mitchell] did well with the Chiefs, but let's face it, they only came sixth ... It's a sort of a half-pass. It's not as though they won it.

"Robbie Deans [another applicant for the job] can point to the first year he was in it [Super 12]. He can say he won it. There is a big difference. But there is plenty of time to make it work, and he [Mitchell] will change the approach to the game and the way they play it."

Former captain Ian Kirkpatrick said he was sorry for Wayne Smith, but believed Mitchell could do the job, and former coach John Hart applauded the appointment.

Hurricanes coach Graham Mourie, who has been a strong supporter of the Smith-Gilbert regime, offered only a few words: "I feel sorry for Wayne Smith. He and Tony had this team just about ready to go."

Former All Black first five-eighth Earle Kirton, a member of the "extra" selector group organised by Smith, said he would support Mitchell "because that's the All Black way."

Kirkpatrick spent a week in the All Blacks camp before the French test this year. He said he was impressed by what he saw.

"I'm happy enough with John Mitchell, though I would have been happy enough with Wayne Smith. But he might have blown his copybook by being a bit indecisive to the committee. If he showed doubt there, it would have counted against him.

"But Mitchell? They ask 'has he done enough?' He's fulltime, and coaching is his life and career, so how much more experience does he need? If he's good enough, he'll do the job."

Former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains said Mitchell had been given a superb base to work from through the work of Smith and co-coach Tony Gilbert, and should make a success of it.

Another former coach, John Hart, said Mitchell was a good choice after the deterioration of the team's forward play in the past two years.

"I think it's a good choice. I believe in the last couple of years ... our forward play has gone backwards.

"I think you're now going to see a focus on forward play. John Mitchell's a hard, uncompromising coach and ... if we get our forward play right, we've got backs equal to the world. It's a very positive choice."

Smith was one of Hart's assistants before being named head coach two years ago.

"It's been a difficult time for Wayne and obviously you feel for him," Hart said. "John probably is a little more decisive, is probably a harder-nosed person and probably as a result will drive things with the team ... not probably as close to the team as Wayne was and I think that's the difference."

Former All Black coach Alex Wyllie is worried John Mitchell may have taken on the position too soon in his career.

Mitchell is just 37-years-old and Wyllie says if he fails, he could be relegated to the coaching scrap-heap far too early.

He says he is worried that if Mitchell fails at the next World Cup his All Black coaching career will be over.