John Mitchell has stated he’s open to teaching the ladies’s British & Irish Lions staff on their tour of New Zealand after having guiding the Crimson Roses to Ladies’s Rugby World Cup victory.
Mitchell is now favorite to steer the vacationers on their inaugural three-Take a look at tour of New Zealand in 2027. However first, he’ll determine on whether or not he’ll prolong his contract with the RFU.
The Kiwi is contracted to the RFU by to the tip of the 2026 Six Nations. He took on the England ladies’s head coach position in 2023 and the Crimson Roses have gained each single match of his tenure, together with Saturday’s World Cup last conquer Canada. With the celebrations nonetheless ongoing, Mitchell will pause earlier than deciding his subsequent transfer.
“I’m nonetheless a part of the subsequent chapter, we now have a Six Nations in April,” Mitchell stated on Sunday. “I’ve bought loads of time to consider it as properly.
“I will take a little bit break after which do some highway journeys in November to ensure we’re again into a brand new aim. In January, we’ll in all probability do one other highway journey to see everybody’s objectives to ensure we put money into the correct folks going ahead.
“To be related to these ladies, they’re pushed, they’ve modified my life, modified the best way I believe as properly. All of these kinds of issues are added bonuses. A trophy is one factor, a medal is one other factor however it’s really the standard of the folks you’re employed with is the last word.”
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And likewise on the radar are the Lions, with the ladies’s staff touring for the primary time in 2027. It might give Mitchell an opportunity to teach in opposition to the land of his start, and turn into the primary coach of the ladies’s Lions.
“The Lions is a large honour,” Mitchell stated. “It is going to be the primary ever ladies’s Lions as properly.
“I can nonetheless keep in mind as a child at highschool after I met the 1977 Lions in meeting. They’ve at all times been part of my life, getting up within the early hours of the morning to observe them, or they’ve come to my nation after I was dwelling in New Zealand and also you perceive how they play an vital half in our rugby.
“If that ever did come alongside, that’s undoubtedly one thing I might take into account. That’s all a part of the plan. However extra importantly I wish to be sure that I get the subsequent cycle foundations in the correct place.”
