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Why Blackett DOESN'T feel threatened by Wasps' signing of Mitchell
Lee Blackett has explained he had no hesitation in recruiting John Mitchell as an assistant at Wasps – even though the New Zealander is a far more experienced coach and could potentially be Blackett’s ready-made successor at the head of the Gallagher Premiership club if things go wrong results-wise in the coming seasons.
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Blackett, who doesn’t turn 39 until next November, took over the reins from Dai Young in early 2020 and the rookie Premiership boss quickly led Wasps to the following October’s Premiership final when the season was restarted after the first lockdown.
However, the ex-Rotherham and Leeds player went on to have a much more difficult first full season in charge, Wasps suffering a mid-campaign slump before eventually finishing in eighth position 21 points shy of the cut-off for the playoffs.
Yet, rather than feel threatened about his own inexperience in his role as a Premiership club boss, Blackett instead moved quickly during the summer to bring in Mitchell as the new Wasps attack coach even though the Kiwi is 18 years older than him and has a considerable more credible CV compared to him – including a stint as All Blacks boss and multiple Super Rugby and Premiership head coaching roles before becoming defence coach at Eddie Jones’ England.
“I want us to get better, simple as that,” enthused Blackett when asked by RugbyPass at a virtual media session on Tuesday why he had brought in Mitchell, a seasoned assistant who potentially could do the job of Wasps head coach. “You want differences in your coaching team and if you look at ours, people are different but one thing we lacked was experience.
John Mitchell has revisited the 2000 sliding doors moment that cost him 2003 World Cup glory with England
https://t.co/vqmUfm104s— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 3, 2021
“No matter who we went and got in that attack role it had to be someone experienced, it had to be someone who had been around, been in plenty and different environments because it is crucial to us. It feels awkward calling him John… if I look at Mitch, as soon as I found out (he was available) I rang him that night, spoke to him on the phone, went down and met him the next day just because it was a great fit.
“You look at Matt Everard taking over the D for the first time, I thought he [Mitchell] could come in and help him. I’m looking at him coming into the attack with his experience – he has led forwards so he could help any of the forwards if he was seeing anything and could help there, and I felt that he had led attacks before (Wasps have also appointed young Ed Robinson as skills coach).
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“Also for me, I felt it would be great to have someone who has been there and done it and seen it in plenty of environments and he can give his knowledge, (we can) almost steal his knowledge. And then my final reason definitely was I knew it would give a boost to the playing side and that is what we are here for. I want the players to have the absolute backing and confidence in what they are doing and I thought that was another boost to that.”
It was July 23 when the RFU first revealed that Mitchell would be joining Wasps after this November’s autumn series, but that joining date was soon changed to August when England confirmed a deal two weeks later for Wasps attack coach Martin Gleeson to link up with Eddie Jones’ Test staff with immediate effect. Just three-and-a-half weeks later, Blackett confirmed that Mitchell has already provided invaluable assistance with his initial input.
“Loads, loads,” he replied when asked what he was learning from his new sidekick. “Every single day there are tiny nuggets that he is giving me, things he is seeing. I’m constantly questioning him on loads of little things. He’s not the only one – I do that with all the coaches. That is how we are.
“We want each other as a coaching team to be challenging each other the whole time, questioning everything we are doing, why we are doing it, and the reason we do that is there is no point in doing something if it is not going to make the team better because that is what it is about in the end, it’s about making the players better so just constantly asking and obviously with his experience it’s invaluable to us.”
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Blackett later revealed at his media briefing that it was Wasps legend Lawrence Dallaglio who first alerted him to Mitchell’s availability even though the England assistant already had a contract taking him through to the 2023 World Cup in France. “The first person that actually brought it to my attention was Lawrence Dallaglio,” he admitted.
“He had a conversation with Mitch and Mitch said he was available and it went from there. I rang Mitch straight away, spoke to him, went down and had a conversation, then the club spoke with his agent and tried to sort a deal out as soon as we probably could and it took a couple of weeks to go through.
“We were in discussions with Martin going one way and we knew more or less where that was going, so it [the Mitchell deal] was something we tried to push on quickly because someone of Mitch’s quality is not on the market for that long. Once we knew 100 per cent that he was the guy we wanted we moved pretty quickly.”
An exit from Eddie Jones' England that was signposted in late July has now been confirmed https://t.co/3TxfS2w7EP
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 24, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Yawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
22 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to comments