Former England boss Sir Clive Woodward has slammed the RFU’s decision to appoint John Mitchell as the Red Roses new head coach.
Currently defence coach with Japan, Mitchell has almost three decades of international experience having coached in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, USA, Japan and England, where he worked with England Men as forwards coach between 1997-2000 and defence coach between 2018-2021.
“The Red Roses have set an incredible standard and foundation for women’s rugby, being the most successful team in the Six Nations which is a tremendous achievement,” said Mitchell.
“We now have the opportunity to build on this, mature in key areas and become a truly champion side that can rightfully contest for the World Cup in 2025. I would like to honour the hugely supportive Red Roses fans with successful performances as we work towards winning and selling out Twickenham Stadium for the Rugby World Cup in 2025.”
However, World Cup winner Woodward believes the RFU should have went in a completely different direction.
He wrote in his column for the Mail Online: “The appointment of John Mitchell as head coach of the Red Roses is a huge missed opportunity by the RFU.
“They have not only let their women’s team down, but also women’s sport by not choosing a female successor to Simon Middleton. Once again, it shows the RFU’s lack of vision.”
Woodward added: “The RFU have done so much right with women’s rugby, including being first to hand out professional contracts. There’s been success on the pitch and off it too with a world-record crowd watching last weekend’s Grand Slam win over France. But just when you want to applaud the RFU, they score an own goal.
“There should have been two criteria for the Red Roses top job. First, the appointee must be female. Second, that person would, ideally, be English. There are plenty of good female coaches in England right now, Giselle Mather at Ealing springs to mind.
“Instead, they’ve gone for Mitchell. He has lots of international experience, but when was the last time he was a head coach? It smacks of jobs for the boys, a decision made by male figures at the RFU. This would not have happened at other organisations.”
“Pool of death” – England and Wales handed nightmare groups in revised Rugby World Cup draw
The latest World Rugby Rankings reaffirm home how ridiculous the Pool Draw for the Rugby World Cup 2023 is.
Decided THREE years before the tournament, the pools for the tournament that starts in September seems extremely unbalanced.
World Rugby has already confirmed they will hold the pool draws for future Rugby World Cups at a later date, closer to the kick-off of upcoming tournaments.
This comes after criticism that the draws were taking place far too early, with world rankings at the time of the draw playing a crucial role in the teams’ seedings.
World Rugby will shake the pool draw up ahead of 2027, according to a report by the Mirror.
“World Rugby said it is able to make the change because of a new ‘hosting model’ that sees the international federation create collaborations with the host union,” the report read.
“The top of the men’s Test game has never been more competitive,” the spokesperson added. “There has never been so much movement over a two-year period.
“Bearing that in mind and noting the format of four pools of five teams, there is arguably no perfect time for a draw.”
As a result, the guys over at Eggchasers Rugby put together their own drawer the 2023 tournament based on the current World Rugby rankings.
Concentrating on only the top 10 countries in the world, it looks significant.
It was very different with England and Wales handed a much sterner test in their pool. Watch the full video here.
POOL A actual draw:
- France
- New Zealand
POOL A up to date draw
- France
- Australia