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Mitchell to start as England's defence coach as soon as next month

John Mitchell

Mitchell is set to join the England setup within the next month.

The Daily Mail has reported former All Blacks coach John Mitchell has agreed to contract terms with the RFU, with the only hurdle remaining the buyout of his current contract with the Bulls in South Africa.

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The RFU will negotiate a release payment with the Super Rugby side to compensate for the loss of their Director of Rugby and Head Coach for the final year of his current deal.

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The move was in motion during England’s tour of South Africa in June, where Eddie Jones reportedly met with Mitchell to discuss the idea. He has beaten out Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards for the role, who was also rumoured to also be in contention.

Mitchell’s new deal with the RFU will see him replace Paul Gustard as the defence coach until the end of the 2019 World Cup. It will be his first role as an assistant coach since the year 2000, will be the latest stop in a long list of coaching destinations that spans six countries, his most successful being with the All Blacks where he maintained a win percentage of over 80% over two seasons as head coach.

He also coached the Golden Lions to a Currie Cup championship in 2011.

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cw 6 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Thanks JW for clarifying your point and totally agree. The ABs are still trying to find their mojo” - that spark of power that binds and defines them. Man the Boks certainly found theirs in Wellington! But I think it cannot be far off for ABs - my comment about two coaches was a bit glib. The key point for me is that they need first a coach or coaches that can unlock that power and for me that starts at getting the set piece right and especially the scrum and second a coach that can simplify the game plans. I am fortified in this view by NBs comment that most of the ABs tries come from the scrum or lineout - this is the structured power game we have been seeing all year. But it cannot work while the scrum is backpeddling. That has to be fixed ASAP if Robertson is going to stick to this formula. I also think it is too late in the cycle to reverse course and revert to a game based on speed and continuity. The second is just as important - keep it simple! Complex movements that require 196 cm 144 kg props to run around like 95kg flankers is never going to work over a sustained period. The 2024 Blues showed what a powerful yet simple formula can do. The 2025 Blues, with Beauden at 10 tried to be more expansive / complicated - and struggled for most of the season.

I also think that the split bench needs to reflect the game they “want” to play not follow some rote formula. For example the ABs impact bench has the biggest front row in the World with two props 195cm / 140 kg plus. But that bulk cannot succeed without the right power based second row (7, 4, 5, 6). That bulk becomes a disadvantage if they don’t have a rock solid base behind them - as both Boks showed at Eden Park and the English in London. Fresh powerful legs need to come on with them - thats why we need a 6-2 bench. And teams with this split can have players focused only on 40 minutes max of super high intensity play. Hence Robertson needs to design his team to accord with these basic physics.



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