Golden Lions Secure Services of John Mitchell for next three years
Johannesburg, 2 September 2010… Golden Lions president Kevin de Klerk and CEO Manie Reyneke 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 loose forward to accept the offer of an extended stay with the Lions.
“Since John has been with us on a consultancy arrangement, we have been most impressed with his ability across our entire coaching structure,” said a delighted De Klerk.
“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 Absa Currie Cup and the Vodacom Super 15.
Rugby WA (Western Australia) chairman Geoff Stooke said the Western Force and rugby in Western Australia 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 tomorrow night’s crucial Currie Cup match at Coca-Cola Park 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 semi-finals 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.
Mitchell’s “Mooloos” were defeated 38-17 by a Springboks side captained by Tiaan Strauss and containing a core of players who wore the red-and-white Lions jersey in their careers in James Small, Chester Williams, Japie Mulder, Hennie le Roux, Johan Roux, Rudolf Straeuli and Johan le Roux.
However 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 quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup in Melbourne in 2003.
“Mitch,” as he is known throughout the rugby world, ended up with an All Black coaching record of 23 test wins from 27 games – an 85% 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.”