1
Drew Mitchell is coming out of retirement to play MLR, with Robshaw and Zebo also set for talks
Drew Mitchell is coming out of retirement after agreeing on a deal to play with Rugby United New York in the new MLR season in America.
ADVERTISEMENT
RUNY kick off their campaign on February 9 when they face the New England Free Jacks in Las Vegas. It was thought that Mathieu Bastareaud would be their prime drawcard, the former French international poised for his debut in Vegas after taking a sabbatical from the Top 14 and arriving in New York in December.
However, RugbyPass have learned that Bastareaud now won’t be the only former star international new to the New York roster in 2020 as the club have moved quickly to get Mitchell on board after a stint of TV punditry in Australia.
Mitchell called time on his playing career at the end of the 2016/17 season with Toulon, signing off at the age of 33 after a stellar stint where he scored 34 tries in 71 Test appearances for his country and appeared in the 2015 World Cup final.
He also played for three Australian Super Rugby franchises – the Force, the Waratahs and the Reds – before embarking on his wonderfully successful trophy-winning stint in France.
(Continue reading below…)
The team captains were all in London for the recent media launch of the Guinness Six Nations
Thirty-six in March, Mitchell tweeted last week: “Anyone looking to hire?? My 2020 is off to a good start. #ServicesNotRequired.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Those services have been snapped up by RUNY who are at the forefront of the growing buzz about the MLR and the attraction it has for people wanting to experience some time living in America.
Anyone looking to hire??
My 2020 is off to a good start 😂#ServicesNotRequired
— Drew Mitchell (@drew_mitchell) January 23, 2020
While New York will unveil their Mitchell deal this week, RugbyPass has learned that they are also believed to be sounding out some other stellar names with a view to potentially signing in 2021 as former England skipper Chris Robshaw and former Ireland player Simon Zebo are due in the Big Apple next week.
Robshaw – who has been a one-club man throughout his entire professional career – signed a three-year deal with Harlequins in August 2017 that is soon to expire. He turns 34 next June and could be looking to experience something different in his career before hanging up the boots.
View this post on Instagram
He joins Mathieu Bastareaud and Ben Foden on the East Coast. #RUNY #MLR
ADVERTISEMENT
Zebo, who turns 30 in March, is also out of contract at the end of the current 2019/20 season in France where he has spent the last season and a half with Racing 92.
WATCH: What is life like in the MLR with Rugby United New York? RugbyPass found out when visiting former England full-back Ben Foden in Foden: Stateside
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments