John Mitchell believes he is “clearly an option” to replace Eddie Jones as Stormers coach, after the Cape Argus reported yesterday that the head coaching position at the Super Rugby franchise was due to become vacant today.
Mitchell said he had not been contacted by the Stormers. Jones is expected to be announced as the new head coach of England’s national side today.
Jones’s sudden exit has not been well received in Cape Town, especially by those who believed he was the best man to turn the Stormers into Super Rugby title contenders.
Mitchell isn’t convinced that Jones is irreplaceable.
“Eddie and I go way back,” he said. “We coached against each other in Super Rugby and in Test rugby and we’ve had our wins and losses. I’d like to think that we’ve both got an enormous amount of international experience to offer wherever we coach.”
Mitchell’s All Blacks and Jones’s Wallabies were on opposite ends of the Bledisloe Cup derbies in 2002 and 2003. The two coaches again locked horns during Mitchell’s five-season stint at the Western Force (2006 to 2010) when Jones returned to Super Rugby to coach the Reds in 2007.
Mitchell has a proven track record coaching in South Africa. The Lions finished the 2010 Super Rugby season bottom of the log with an 0-13 record and Mitchell stepped in to replace Dick Muir. The following season, the Lions won the Currie Cup for the first time in 12 years.
Mitchell was suspended by the Lions in 2012 based on alleged player complaints and, though he was cleared of all charges later that year, he opted to take up a temporary consultancy with English club side Sale.
“In all the jobs that I’ve taken, I’ve taken risks,” said the 51-year-old. “I’ve always managed to create environments for success and when I’ve left I haven’t left a sandcastle. I am also not afraid to make changes and, at times, that has been costly to me, because I haven’t always been the bearer of the fruit of that change.
“I guess a lot of people forget how bad the Lions were, where they have come from and who germinated that change in their mindset,” Mitchell said, referring to the Lions’ steady progression since 2011.
“But I see the Stormers as being in a completely different starting position for me than was the case at the Force and the Lions. There’s lots of talent and a wonderful diversity there. They’re a top-four team with a chance to win the competition, and whoever comes in will have to win it.”
While Mitchell has spent the past two yearsworking as the chief executive of a manufacturing company, he credits the time away from the professional game with giving him fresh insight.
He would have made the jump back into rugby in June when Western Province director of rugby Gert Smal offered him the Stormers post, but Mitchell didn’t feel comfortable with the terms.
“At the time, it was only a two-year appointment, which didn’t really turn my head. Four years is important, but more than the duration, it also has to be right. It’s not a place where you want to be tolerated, you want to be loved and enjoyed.”
Mitchell’s track record, as far as the list of players who have come through under him, is impressive.
“The England forward pack I worked with in the mid-90s – guys like Martin Johnson and Neil Back – went on to be one of the best in the world. I coached the Chiefs in 2001 and there were young players there as well, like Marty Holah and Bruce Reihana.
“Onto the All Blacks at the end of 2001, we created change there when there wasn’t performance and that led to Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Mils Muliaina, and Ma’a Nonu. David Pocock and James O’Connor came through at the Western Force and guys like Josh Strauss, Warren Whiteley and Derick Minnie performed well at the Lions. So I’ve worked with every type of footballer.”
Back, Holah, McCaw, Pocock and Minnie form a pretty distinguished posse of fetchers that has been fostered under the former Waikato loose forward.
The Stormers No 6 jersey is an area of particular concern for the first time in team history, and Mitchell’s knack for unearthing poachers is perhaps reason enough for Smal to pick up the phone.
“I’ve demonstrated in the past that I’ve brought on some wonderful youth that have gone on to be very good players. I’ve had my successes and failures but I’ve always brought a style of rugby that’s attractive and lends itself to scoring more tries. I understand how to implement that with balance, and I understand South Africa better than most (foreign coaches).” - Cape Argus