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Lions get their man

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 07:45

John Mitchell is a fan of Dick Muir. (c) Gallo

New Zealander John Mitchell will coach the Lions on a permanent basis for the next three years.

Golden Lions Rugby Union President Kevin de Klerk announced on Thursday that Mitchell had been released from the final year of his contract with the Western Force in Perth, thus allowing the former All Black coach to accept the offer of an extended stay with the Lions.

Mitchell has been coaching the Lions Currie Cup team on a "consultancy" basis, but will now also take charge of their Super Rugby outfit - displacing Springbok backline coach Dick Muir, who will become a Director of Rugby in Johannesburg.

"Since John has been with us on a consultancy arrangement, we have been most impressed with his ability across our entire coaching structure," a delighted De Klerk said in a statement.

"It has been no secret that we wanted to engage John Mitchell on a longer term basis, but we realised this was always going to be subject to the Western Force agreeing to provide him with a release. We are thankful and appreciative that the Western Force gave us the green light.

"In John we are getting not only a man of high ethics who cherishes the history, culture and camaraderie of rugby, but who boasts an exceptional coaching pedigree at the very highest level. We at the Lions are extremely excited at being able to pull this off and look forward to John building on the already very positive impact he has had on the Lions," added the former Springbok lock.

De Klerk said Lions coach Dick Muir had been a part of and conversant with the process of contracting Mitchell.

"Dick, who is obviously now involved with the Springboks, is still the Director of Rugby at the Lions with John as the head coach. Dick was instrumental in helping us secure the services of John and will play a role in our plans going forward."

De Klerk said Mitchell would base himself in Johannesburg for the greater part of the year and be in charge of the Lions in both the Currie Cup and the Super 15.

RugbyWA (Western Australia) chairman Geoff Stooke said the Western Force owed a great deal to Mitchell, who started with a blank sheet of paper on his arrival six years ago and built a strong foundation for long term success.

Mitchell will be succeeded at the Force by Richard Graham, presently the Wallabies' skills coach.

A surprise appointee when he was named to coach the Lions in the Currie Cup on a temporary basis in the absence of Springbok assistant Dick Muir at the beginning of the season, Mitchell has instilled a new spirit in a Lions team who go into Friday's crucial Currie Cup match against traditional foes Western Province on the back of three successive victories.

Mitchell follows in the footsteps of another former All Black coach Laurie Mains, who guided the composite Cats to Super 12 semifinals in 2000 and 2001.

Mitchell has crossed swords with the Springboks on numerous occasions.

In 1994 he captained a Waikato side against Francois Pienaar's touring side that contained Warren Gatland, recently re-appointed as coach of Wales, and other All Blacks in Matthew Cooper, Duane Monkley and Mark Cooksley.

As a coach of the All Blacks Mitchell tasted success against his country's arch-rivals with a 100 percent record of seven wins in seven matches – including a 52-16 drubbing at Loftus Versfeld in 2003 and a comprehensive 29-9 defeat in the quarterfinal of the World Cup in Melbourne in 2003.

"Mitch," as he is known throughout the world, ended up with an All Black coaching record of 23 Test wins from 27 games – an 85 percent winning record, the highest of any All Black coach in the professional era. In addition he coached the All Blacks to five out of five wins in mid-week matches.

His vast coaching pedigree includes stints as Clive Woodward's assistant with the England team from 1997 to 2000, the Waikato National Provincial Championship side, the Chiefs Super 12 side and most recently taking the difficult job of establishing the Western Force in the Super 14 and creating a Rugby Union culture in Perth.

As a player Mitchell gained All Black colours on the 1993 tour to Great Britain. He was not capped but played in six victorious mid-week games; captaining the All Blacks on three occasions.

In Waikato he was a legend, having played 134 times and captaining them a record 86 times, in a career highlighted by many other achievements.

"When I took over as president of the Lions I said I was only interested in leading a province of winners," concluded De Klerk.

"The appointment of a coach of John Mitchell's stature confirms that goal."

Mitchell also came in for high praise from RugbyWA Chairman Geoff Stooke.
 
"John Mitchell worked passionately and diligently in setting up the Western Force rugby programme from the ground up," said Stooke.

"John was one of the key catalysts in achieving our objectives of growing rugby in Western Australia and growing Wallabies, achievements that cannot be underestimated.

"He departs with our best wishes and appreciation for his efforts over the past six years.

"John can feel very proud of the work he has done here," Stooke said.

In five Super Rugby seasons at the Western Force Mitchell has overseen the development of a squad that has enabled 71 players to proudly wear the ocean blue jersey and accomplish many noteworthy milestones.

In 2009 the club secured the 'grand slam' against Australian Super 14 teams and in 2010 achieved a famous win against the Crusaders, after coming so close on numerous previous occasions, that ensured the club had notched victories against every opponent in the competition.

Since their Super Rugby inception the Western Force has also contributed significantly to the stocks of the Wallabies with 11 players going on to represent Australia including current first choice selections in James O'Connor and David Pocock.

RugbyWA CEO Vern Reid said Mitchell's ability to nurture talent enabled the club to establish a reputation as a sought after rugby destination.

"We have seen John take young players, as well as some more establish performers, into the system here and help them take the next step at Super rugby level and also into the national set-up," said Reid.

"That formula is entrenched into the Western Force programme and players going forward will continue to benefit from the structures already put in place."

Mitchell said that helping establish the Western Force as a Super Rugby entity was something he would always regard with a high degree of enjoyment and satisfaction.

"We started from scratch in 2005 which was an enormous challenge for everyone associated with the club," he said.

"Like any organisation, you have your highs and lows, but I believe we can all look back and count a number of significant achievements, among them producing a healthy list of Wallabies, defeating all other Super Rugby franchises in the club's short history, and, importantly, beating the other three Australian Super Rugby teams during the 2009 season.

"Looking ahead I believe Richard Graham is extremely well qualified to take the reins of a Super 15 team," said Mitchell.

Discussions have commenced with current Western Force Assistant Coach Richard Graham, who had already been appointed to take up the head coaching role at the club in 2012, to assume the position from next season.

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