John Mitchell: Leading Red Roses at World Cup is like coaching All Blacks

Times

28-06-2025

It ranks among the most comprehensive midweek defeats for tourists from these isles. In 1993 the British & Irish Lions had beaten New Zealand to take the series to a decider, and three days later they were thumped 38-10 in Hamilton. Among the Waikato XV that day were Ian Foster, Warren Gatland and John Mitchell.
'Antipodeans wait for the Lions,' Mitchell says. 'You just want that opportunity, and then it's a 12-year cycle as well, so that's why it's really important. When you've got confidence as a provincial side and you give yourself a chance of winning, you go for it.'
A quantity surveyor at the time, he recalls the occasion: 'Three o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, 35,000 people, probably not all of them on annual leave. Then the night we won and went into the night, I think I was driving around the Welsh president in my Ford Escort to try to find another pub.
'The next morning I had to report for work at 7.30am. I still remember my workmate, Derek Hobbs, he could see I was a little bit seedy and I had to go to the doctor for antibiotics because I think I cut my elbow open.'
Fast forward 32 years and more pressing for Mitchell, 61, is the Women's Rugby World Cup in England, beginning on August 22, for which the Red Roses are favourites after a run of 55 wins in 56 Tests (the defeat being the previous World Cup final).
They began their campaign on June 2 after a five-week break, starting with a first day of connection, sharing stories and photographs about the time off. Punishing fitness work from the first two camps will continue, twinned with increasing tactical work, to help deal with incidents such as the first-half red card for Lydia Thompson three years ago, en route to a fifth defeat in finals by the Black Ferns.
'If we don't create that exposure, then we're probably going to let ourselves down like the last World Cup,' Mitchell says.
Mitchell has coached at several men's World Cups. In 2003 he led the All Blacks, 16 years on from their only win at the time, into the tournament. 'It does feel similar to that, but probably what's different is that I'm a little bit older and a bit more experienced,' Mitchell says.
'The young John Mitchell, he was 37 or 40 way back then, has done a few miles. I would love to have had the experience that I've got now back then. But hey, that's life, you've got to learn it.
'I've been in too many World Cups where people make it bigger than what it actually is. It's just a tournament, and it's a big tournament. Just focus on what you can control and make sure you don't get distracted by stuff from the outside world that affects the week.'
More than 300,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament, more than double the record attendance in New Zealand three years ago, and Mitchell is aware of the World Cup's role in the growth of the women's game, as well as the status of the Red Roses.
'To me, it's significant; we stand for something, we've set a standard, but we also haven't won a World Cup for 11 years, so how do we get down what we haven't had for a long time?' he says. 'We mustn't have been doing something right.
'We've got an opportunity to embrace this, take it on, and create our own story that ultimately can help our girls pass on the message for a lot longer than when you come second. I guess that's the powerful opportunity while this tournament is under our watch.'