Just days before the All Blacks clinched the 2011 Rugby World Cup, a fiery clash erupted between Brad Thorn and coach Wayne Smith on the training ground. This intense altercation highlights the high-pressure environment as the team neared their final showdown against France in Auckland. Thorn, now 51, unpacks this incident among other hard-hitting stories in his recent autobiography, "Champions Do Extra: Lessons Learned in Footy and Life to Build a Winning Mindset."
During a promotional stint on The Dom Harvey Podcast, Thorn recalled the heated moment. "That was final week. He wanted me to do some new drill thing to help the backs. Like, are you crazy, mate?" he said. When asked if he swore at Smith, Thorn admitted, "Heck yeah. Swearing is something I battle with. You have always got work-ons, but you know when I talked before about routine – as a routine, me and Keve (Keven Mealamu) would do this on a Thursday."
"'It's like Thursday, what are you fricking, what are you thinking, mate?'"
Thorn's frustration was palpable as he explained his mindset leading up to the finals, "The round-robin, I wasn’t interested in apart from the build. The world starts quarter, semi, and final, three grand finals. You have got to earn the right to make the semi, earn the right to make the final. So shutters came down for me."
On that fateful Thursday, Thorn was not about to shift his focus, "‘Mate, you know we are good enough, what are you thinking? I am not interested in your footwork thing for the backs, I’m not interested. Get out of my face, I don’t want to know’. That’s how I felt."
Fifteen years later, Thorn believes Smith now understands his intense focus at that time. "No, no," he responded when asked if he ever apologized. "That is why it says in the book, Smithy, he gets it. I would still say to this day, ‘What were you thinking? What were you thinking? C’mon, man. He’s the professor. He should know better than that. Get some other non-playing 23 guy to do that. Why are you asking me?’"
Thorn also shed light on a peculiar calf tear incident in 2011, which ironically provided a crucial break ahead of the World Cup. "I went to get it on game day because I want to look at it. I thought it wasn’t too many streets away... I just wore thongs (flip-flops), and it was on concrete, and I think that added up to me pinging my calf in a scrum. It was actually the best thing that happened to me because it gave me a break," he recounted.
This peek into Thorn's career not only reveals the complexities of his rugby journey but also underscores the raw, unfiltered realities that often accompany high-stakes sports.
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Just days before the All Blacks clinched the 2011 Rugby World Cup, a fiery clash erupted between Brad Thorn and coach Wayne Smith on the training ground. This intense altercation highlights the high-pressure environment as the team neared their final showdown against France in Auckland. Thorn, now 51, unpacks this incident among other hard-hitting stories in his recent autobiography, "Champions Do Extra: Lessons Learned in Footy and Life to Build a Winning Mindset."
During a promotional stint on The Dom Harvey Podcast, Thorn recalled the heated moment. "That was final week. He wanted me to do some new drill thing to help the backs. Like, are you crazy, mate?" he said. When asked if he swore at Smith, Thorn admitted, "Heck yeah. Swearing is something I battle with. You have always got work-ons, but you know when I talked before about routine – as a routine, me and Keve (Keven Mealamu) would do this on a Thursday."
"'It's like Thursday, what are you fricking, what are you thinking, mate?'"
Thorn's frustration was palpable as he explained his mindset leading up to the finals, "The round-robin, I wasn’t interested in apart from the build. The world starts quarter, semi, and final, three grand finals. You have got to earn the right to make the semi, earn the right to make the final. So shutters came down for me."
On that fateful Thursday, Thorn was not about to shift his focus, "‘Mate, you know we are good enough, what are you thinking? I am not interested in your footwork thing for the backs, I’m not interested. Get out of my face, I don’t want to know’. That’s how I felt."
Fifteen years later, Thorn believes Smith now understands his intense focus at that time. "No, no," he responded when asked if he ever apologized. "That is why it says in the book, Smithy, he gets it. I would still say to this day, ‘What were you thinking? What were you thinking? C’mon, man. He’s the professor. He should know better than that. Get some other non-playing 23 guy to do that. Why are you asking me?’"
Thorn also shed light on a peculiar calf tear incident in 2011, which ironically provided a crucial break ahead of the World Cup. "I went to get it on game day because I want to look at it. I thought it wasn’t too many streets away... I just wore thongs (flip-flops), and it was on concrete, and I think that added up to me pinging my calf in a scrum. It was actually the best thing that happened to me because it gave me a break," he recounted.
This peek into Thorn's career not only reveals the complexities of his rugby journey but also underscores the raw, unfiltered realities that often accompany high-stakes sports.