John Mitchell becomes UK citizen and says coaching England will be ‘whole and meaningful’

John Mitchell said coaching England would be “very whole and meaningful” after he became a UK citizen in July, comments coming as England prepare to start the revamped WXV tournament against Australia on 12 September at Sale’s CorpAcq Stadium.

Mitchell, the England women’s World Cup-winning coach, revealed the citizenship followed a six-year process and said he “belted out” the national anthem in his final citizenship test. He said his time in English rugby motivated the decision and added: "I am very happy to be a British citizen. More importantly, I am very happy to be an English citizen because rugby isn’t who I am, it’s what I do, but it does play a big part in my life."

Originally from New Zealand, Mitchell coached the All Blacks at the 2003 men’s World Cup and has an extended history in English rugby, having been a forwards coach for England’s men’s team from 1997-2000 and defence coach under Eddie Jones between 2018 and 2021. He was appointed to lead the Red Roses in 2023 and is described in the report as 62-year-old.

The WXV competition runs across September and October in its revamped format; England will play three home matches against Australia, Canada and New Zealand and will also travel to Canada and the US. On the tournament’s role in preparation for future global events Mitchell said: "We can be very patient around how we go about things. Ultimately, you are auditioning for Australia in 2029 because we are definitely going to be travelling some distance."

World Rugby will trial a size 4.5 ball in the WXV, down from the usual size five, following its use at a women’s sevens competition last November. England fly-half Zoe Harrison criticised the decision and Mitchell addressed potential effects, saying: "If we have younger players and we want to keep them in the game and we want to build confidence then I am all for that. It is too early for me to say it is going to help our offloading game or it’s going to help out with passing."

Mitchell also warned of possible unintended consequences and outlined the limited evidence so far: "I am sure there will be consequences as well, there might be more contestable kicking, which is something we probably want to keep away from our game because it is a point of difference between our game and the men’s game. Will passes drop away? Will kicks go as far? All of those things need to be answered. The sample at the moment is too small. We have had two weeks of team work with it and skill set. Once we get into the first three Test matches at home a lot of the curiosity will be answered."

England’s first WXV match is confirmed as the game against Australia on 12 September at Sale’s CorpAcq Stadium.