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John Mitchell laughs off his reputation despite 'mistakes' as he insists he's back with England to win the World Cup

The disciplinarian coach will take charge of England's defence leading up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup but believes that the way he is portrayed in the media is 'not reality'

Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 25 September 2018 14:51 BST
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Eddie Jones explains Danny Cipriani omission from England team

John Mitchell’s reputation within world rugby will tell you that the New Zealander is very much a polarising character, but even though he admits that he’s made “a few mistakes” along his well-travelled journey, the new England defence coach says that perception is far from the truth.

The 54-year-old Kiwi is getting to grips with his new squad as part of their three-day training camp in Bristol this week, having agreed to join Eddie Jones’ coaching staff to replace Paul Gustard after he decided to trade his role in for the top job at Harlequins. Where the allure of taking a national team to the Rugby World Cup wasn’t enough to keep Gustard interested, it is very much the reason why Mitchell is back on these shores, 18 years after leaving Clive Woodward’s team following three seasons as forwards coach.

“It was special back then and it is special now,” he said on Monday. “It is nice to come back with more maturity and miles on the tyres.

“I am indebted to English rugby because my first five years coaching were in this country. I guess I was a bit of a pioneer - one of the first foreign coaches to take the opportunity. It was probably frowned upon back then, but now it seems to be so much more common. I am very comfortable being back.”

As well as working with England, Mitchell has history with both Sale Sharks and Wasps, while his CV also reels off the All Blacks, the United States and a host of Super Rugby franchises that includes the Waikato side he captained during his playing days as a back-row forward - most notably to the famous 19993 victory over the British and Irish Lions.

He also has history with Jones. The two faced off in one of rugby’s fiercest rivalries in their past jobs as the head coaches of New Zealand and Australia, and that Bledisloe duel is largely to credit for the mutual respect that the pair now hold for each other that led to this appointment, with Jones checking in on Mitchell’s condition eight years ago when he was stabbed twice during a burglary at his Johannesburg home.

“Eddie and I were adversaries at Test rugby in the early 2000s and ever since then we have stayed in touch,” he added. “We have spoken to each other - shown empathy during difficult times, in sickness, and also bumped into each other in various parts of the world. Then late July it was when Eddie said was I interested in becoming he defence coach.

“I turned down the Bulls on a three-year contract extension in June - I didn't feel my future was there. So I only had a year to go and ultimately, when you have one year to go you are at risk if you the ability to coach somewhere else.

“At the end of the day I want to roll up my sleeves and do more, support the boss and bring an attacking mindset. Paul’s done an extremely good job. I’ve now got an opportunity to extend on that. I want to create an attacking mindset and approach to our defence.”

John Mitchell has been appointed England defence coach until the 2019 Rugby World Cup

His time back home in New Zealand with the national team saw Mitchell build a game plan around strict discipline and, sometimes to his cost, saying it how it was. This honesty remains deeply instilled within him, which is part of the reason why Jones brought his former rival into the set-up in the first place, but it has also built up a reputation that he believes does not portray the real John Mitchell, with his relationship with the New Zealand media and their sponsors growing particularly frosty during his reign from 2001 to the end of the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

"It's funny the perception you create and I sometimes laugh at the perception,” he said. “For some reason that's the perception and some people see that as the reality, and it's not.

"I don’t sweat the small things, I fully enjoy what I do and I am very at peace at what I do.

"It's funny listening to Eddie the other day say that younger coaches are always writing in notebooks. Older coaches, we tend to watch things and listen to things and take less notes, because we’ve seen most of these things, and it's very true."

John Mitchell defended his reputation as one of rugby's disciplinarians

But that is not to say that he hasn’t learned a thing or two along the 18-year path since last joining up with England.

"When you look back, to 34 [years old], when I first coached the England forward pack, all those gorillas, Lawrence [Dallaglio], and Backy [Neil Back], and Hilly [Richard Hill]. I had just finished playing in the Premiership and I was amongst them.

“At 37 as All Blacks coach, rightly or wrongly I was given the opportunity. In international coaching, as a young coach you’re not ready for the head coach role, there's just too much to go through. I don't think anything prepares you for the level because you have to experientially learn it and be in it.

"I was quite implicit in my coaching when I was younger but off the field I created a lot more discipline. Now I'm certainly implicit in most of the stuff I do, both on and off the field. I enjoy and am very comfortable in all areas of the game to be able to sit down with an individual and help him get better. Understanding individual personalities is critical to coaching these days. It's been extremely important.

“We were all self-taught way back, 20 years ago, and I certainly fell into the trap of being generic in the way I handled personalities. That's been a learning for me and I wouldn't be sitting here now if I hadn’t evolved. A lot of us 50-year-old coaches in the world wouldn't be around if we didn’t look to evolve and get better."

Mitchell got to grips with the England squad on Monday

Having taken on the role on a full-time basis until next year’s Rugby World Cup, the question now is whether England really are good enough to turnaround an alarming slump in 2018 to get back to challenging Mitchell’s former side as the best in the world. But he insists that he would not have taken the job if England were not in the mix for Japan 2019, with a potential meeting against the All Blacks on the cards in the semi-finals if both teams top their pool.

“I really believe that we can get better and be the best within a year’s time,” Mitchell insisted, having also dismissed rumours that he missed out on the top job to Jones in 2015. “I really do believe that. Why? Because of what I’ve seen in the past. We haven’t had the desired outcome in the past year for a number of reasons and now we’re challenging ourselves to get better. I believe I can play a part in that and contribute to that.

“That’s what excites me. Also, being back at the highest level again and being back in a country that I am very familiar with. I’ve got to update myself on the individuals within the clubs and also look to re-establish relationships. I’ve driven 600 miles in the job this week – re-acquainting myself with getting out of London, all the roads!”

The road for England now leads to Japan. With Mitchell and attack coach Scott Wisemantel in place - at least for this November’s crucial internationals against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia - there are 20 stops until the start of the World Cup, giving Mitchell an alarmingly short length of time to put his imprint onto the side. In that light it’s understandable why he’s here in the first place given the size of the challenge and the test of character at being a No 2 under somebody so assertive in their own thoughts as Jones is, but there is also the real potentially for a sizeable level of damage to his own reputation - and that of English rugby - if it all goes pear-shaped along the way.

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