1
Exclusive: England to name John Mitchell as new women's head coach
John Mitchell is set to be unveiled as the new England women’s head coach following the departure of Simon Middleton. RugbyPass understands that an announcement will be made by the RFU on Wednesday just days after the Red Roses clinched a fifth consecutive TikTok Women’s Six Nations title in Middleton’s 77th and final match in charge.
ADVERTISEMENT
Whereas Middleton had a low-key coaching CV when he took on the Red Roses role eight years ago, Mitchell comes with a wealth of international experience but whether he can match Middleton’s success in the women’s game remains to be seen.
A former uncapped All Blacks forward, Mitchell was an assistant coach with England in the early years of Clive Woodward’s reign before taking on the top job with New Zealand after a year in Super Rugby with the Chiefs.
Failure to win the Rugby World Cup with the All Blacks in 2003 led him to leave the role and he subsequently linked up with his home province Waikato before coaching Western Force and Lions in Super Rugby as well as a very brief stint at Sale in the English Premiership.
After a long period outside of the Test arena, he returned to coach the USA to their first major title in 15s rugby in 83 years when they won the Americas Rugby Championship in 2017. Under Mitchell, the USA also qualified for Rugby World Cup 2019 in record time, earning the Americas 1 spot for the first time in history.
However, like a number of his appointments, Mitchell’s time with the USA was short-lived and he left after just 16 Tests and 18 months at the helm to go to the Blue Bulls in South Africa where he was previously based for a number of years. It was not long before Mitchell was back in demand, though, as Eddie Jones appointed him as his England defence coach in September 2018.
Five months after signing a contract extension that would take him through to RWC 2023, Mitchell surprisingly quit in the summer of 2021 to return to club rugby as attack coach of Wasps. Wasps then agreed to let Mitchell support Japan in their preparations for RWC 2023 alongside his role with them.
ADVERTISEMENT
The much-travelled Mitchell has been on the lookout for new opportunities ever since the Premiership club ceased trading in October and he will now link up with England women. He has a tough act to follow and while his pedigree is without dispute, some in the women’s game will be disappointed the Red Roses have failed to give the job to a female coach.
Except for missing out in two Rugby World Cup finals, Middleton’s eight-year tenure has been one of unadulterated success. A dual-code player, Middleton first cut his coaching teeth at Leeds during the club’s most successful period under Phil Davies. Leeds qualified for the Heineken Cup and defied the odds to win the 2005 Powergen Cup and it was while Middleton was there that then Red Roses head coach Gary Street asked him to assist him on a part-time basis in the build-up to RWC 2010.
After another short-term spell assisting the Red Roses in 2012, Middleton began working full-time with the team as an assistant coach ahead of their victorious RWC 2014 campaign, the same year he started coaching the country’s women’s team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The Yorkshireman graduated to head coach in 2015, initially in a joint role with sevens which also included taking the GB women’s team to the Rio Olympics, and has since taken England to Rugby World Cup finals in 2017 and 2022, won half-a-dozen Six Nations titles, five of them Grand Slams, and led the team on a record 30-match winning run.
ADVERTISEMENT
In 2021, Middleton became the first head coach of a women’s team to win the World Rugby coach of the year award. It was also the year he was appointed as an MBE. In February 2023, Middleton announced he would depart as the Red Roses head coach at the end of this year’s Women’s Six Nations.
Fittingly, his ground-breaking tenure concluded on a landmark day for the women’s game with a 38-33 win in the title decider against France in front of a world record crowd of 58,498 at Twickenham.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments