Mitchell worked as a defence coach for the England men’s team under former coach Jones in 2018, but abruptly vacated the role in July 2021, just months after signing a contract extension.
The 59-year-old has always denied that a rift opened up between him and Jones after the Australian refused to grant him permission to watch his son Daryl, an international cricketer for New Zealand, play for Middlesex on a day off.
‘How can we stay above the rest?’
Mitchell, whose coaching CV includes spells in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, led the All Blacks to a third-place finish at the 2003 World Cup but his role with the Red Roses is his first venture into women’s rugby.
He revealed he was inspired to apply for the position after watching the Red Roses in last year’s women’s World Cup, where England lost 34-31 to hosts New Zealand at Eden Park.
“I always owed it to myself to lead a programme again,” he said. “This is an amazing team that has a winning mentality. That really excited me and the fact that they are the No 1 team in the world, how can we sustain that and stay above the rest?
“With the exponential development and focus on women’s sport, to me, that’s a major challenge because other teams are going to get better. We need to stay above them. That’s the part that really excites me.
“I’ve had failure and success and I’ve lived with a lot of girls in my time. I wouldn’t be here as a coach if I wasn’t prepared to learn. That’s a really good strength of mine and I’m open to learning a lot about the physiological and psychological advantages that the girls have.”
The Red Roses enjoyed a 30-game winning streak before falling short to an imperious Black Ferns outfit coached by former New Zealand head coach Wayne Smith. As the world’s top-ranked team, the Red Roses have already qualified for women’s rugby’s showpiece in 2025, which is expected to be the most-watched women’s World Cup in history.
‘We are not great, we have to take another step’
With matches being staged around the country – including Sunderland, Brighton and Bristol – Mitchell said the Red Roses had the ability to capture the hearts of a nation.
“They have an identity,” he said. “Whoever the genius was way back to call them the Red Roses I think is fantastic. They have a winning mentality. They’ve created a legacy already in terms of the number of games they’ve won.
“They’ve won World Cups before, and they’ve lost World Cups. But in saying that, within the team there are different heritages as well.”
England will be among the favourites in 2025, when they will attempt to win back the World Cup crown they last won in 2014.
After watching England triumph at WXV, Mitchell, who will be tasked with helping to deal with the psychological scars tissue of losing back-to-back World Cup finals to the Black Ferns, said he was excited to take England to the next level.
“We are not great,” said Mitchell, when asked for an assessment on where the Red Roses are at. “We are not phenomenal; we are very good. We have the opportunity to take another step, and that’s going to force people to change the way they think.
“They will be challenged in that area, certainly by myself. I think collectively, carry on and get better, and individually make sure we allow the girls to present themselves authentically and their communities in the whole of England.”
