MITCH TO END HIS BULL SHIFT
THE BULLS will go on a frantic search for a Super Rugby coach ahead of the pre-season which starts in two months’ time after the Blue Bulls Company (BBC) and the RFU finally came to an agreement regarding the services of John Mitchell.
The 52-year-old Mitchell will be leaving Loftus Versfeld with immediate effect relinquishing his positions as director of rugby and head coach of the Super Rugby team to take up the job as England’s defence coach after the RFU ended off a near twomonth stand-off with the Bulls by allegedly paying out between R3 million and R5 million.
While the lure of coaching international rugby, and the likelihood of succeeding incumbent England coach Eddie Jones, as well as the hefty paycheque would have undoubtedly been the swaying factors to Mitchell abandoning his stay in the SA capital with just over a year still to run on his two-year contract, the reluctance of the BBC to throw big money at Mitchell’s strategy to lure some big name players to the Bulls would have also played a role.
“We would like to humbly thank Mitch for his efforts over the last year. There is no doubt that he has made an impact on our brand, and we would like to wish him all of the best with his future endeavours,” was all BBC chief executive officer Barend van Graan was willing to say in a prepared statement.
Mitchell’s departure leaves the Bulls in a precarious position ahead of next year’s Super Rugby season and with little time to find a suitable candidate that will stay at Loftus for a long time to come.
Incumbent Pumas coach
Jimmy Stonehouse has made public his interest in succeeding Mitchell as Super Rugby coach, but there will be stiff competition for the vacant post coming from all corners.
Blue Bulls Currie Cup coach and Super Rugby assistant coach Pote Human, as well as the names of Western Province coach John Dobson, Southern Kings coach Deon Davids, Griquas coach
Peter Engledow and even former Springbok Sevens coach and now Stormers assistant coach Paul Treu are some of the candidates that could be considered.
Stonehouse, however, finds himself as an early front-runner to the position, not because of his declaration last week, but also as a coach who is said to be preferred by Blue Bulls Rugby Union president Willem Strauss.
However, Stonehouse’s ambitions could be dampened by the BBC’s Board of Directors reluctance to make hasty decisions and Human could just be handed the reins on an interim basis for next year.
Dobson and Engledow – who takes up a new job as Paarl Boys’ High head of rugby next year – have not openly stated their availability for the job but they are said to be interested and would not turn down an approach from the BBC.
Davids has an impressive and long track record and coached the Kings to some big wins including one over the Bulls at Loftus in their last season of Super Rugby and also enjoys the support of many influential figures within Saru who have earmarked him as a future Springbok coach.
Treu will also be on the Bulls radar with his extensive experience coaching Sevens internationally and his qualifications.