John Mitchell has finally been appointed as the England defence coach after the Rugby Football Union agreed a compensation package of £200,000 with the Blue Bulls. Scott Wisemantel will also continue as England’s attack coach, having taken on the role during the summer tour of South Africa.
Mitchell, who was the All Blacks coach at the 2003 World Cup, will be in position for England’s mini-training camp in Bristol that starts on Sunday. He was not the first-choice candidate – in May Eddie Jones said he was interviewing exclusively English coaches – but with Andy Farrell rejecting the offer to return to Twickenham, Jones set about recruiting the 54-year-old New Zealander.
Black is the colour to end red-card muddle over misjudged tackles | Robert Kitson
And after weeks of negotiations – the Bulls wanted £500,000 in compensation – Mitchell has been appointed up until the end of next year’s World Cup.
“This is an exciting opportunity to work with England and support Eddie Jones,” said the former USA coach. “I will use all my experience and focus to bring the necessary clarity and confidence to the players from a defensive perspective.”
Considering the trouble to which the RFU has gone to secure his services, Mitchell can also be seen as a potential candidate to replace Jones as and when he leaves. Jones’s contract runs out in 2021 but there is a break clause if England do not reach the semi-finals in Japan. If Jones does stay on after the World Cup, the RFU chief executive, Steve Brown, wants his successor to work under him before eventually taking over.
Mitchell, who comes with reputation as a notorious taskmaster, is charged with whipping into shape an England side who have lost five of their past six Tests with autumn Tests against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia to come.
“Defence is a key pillar of our game and John is an experienced coach,” Jones said. “He’s coached the All Blacks, the USA and a number of Super Rugby sides, so he will bring a wealth of experience and add to the coaching mix we have here.”
This is Mitchell’s second stint with England, having been Sir Clive Woodward’s forwards coach in the late 90s but while it is his 16th major role, he has never before been employed as a defence coach. Under his watch the Bulls finished 12th in this year’s Super Rugby competition and only the Sunwolves conceded more tries.
The Leicester lock Will Spencer was banned for four weeks following his controversial red card against Wasps on Sunday. Spencer was found guilty of a dangerous tackle after nearly five hours’ deliberation by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel, which rejected his claim he had not made contact with Tommy Taylor’s head. As a result, a six-week ban was warranted, reduced by two weeks for mitigation, meaning Spencer is free to play again on 16 October, three days after Leicester’s first Champions Cup match.
He is well known to Jones – they were in charge of New Zealand and Australia respectively in the early 2000s – as well as the RFU’s director of professional rugby, Nigel Melville. Mitchell was hired by Melville as the coach of the USA in 2016, having been his assistant at Wasps. They even lived next door to each other at the time.
“John is a really good coach, we worked very well together,” Melville said. “He is technically very sound, very good at getting the best out of the players. They really bought into what he was doing.”
Spencer banned for four weeks
The Leicester lock Will Spencer was on Tuesday night banned for four weeks following his controversial red card against Wasps on Sunday – an incident which has ignited fierce debate over player safety. Spencer was found guilty of a dangerous tackle after nearly five hours’ deliberation by a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel, which rejected his claim he had not made contact with Tommy Taylor’s head.
As a result, a six-week ban was warranted, reduced by two weeks for mitigation, meaning Spencer is free to play again on 16 October, three days after Leicester’s first Champions Cup match. “[The panel] found on the balance of probabilities that this was a reckless tackle that resulted in direct, forceful contact to the head of Tommy Taylor,” said an RFU statement. “The panel rejected the player’s evidence that any contact with the opposition player had been limited to the top of his shoulder with no contact being made to his head.” Debate has raged since Spencer’s red card with a host of current and former players insisting the referee Ian Tempest was wrong to send off the 6ft 7in lock despite directives that urge officials to clamp down on contact with the head. Spencer was sent off in the 40th minute of Wasps’ 41-35 victory, after which the Leicester interim head coach, Geordan Murphy, said: “I think the game’s gone a little bit too PC. I just see the game becoming very different to the game I played and love. It’s a collision sport that’s supposed to be for all sizes.”