Coach John Mitchell leaving the U.S. Eagles for South Africa’s Bulls

U.S. rugby coach John Mitchell is leaving for South Africa’s Bulls after next month’s World Cup qualifying series against Canada.

The New Zealander will take over in July as executive of rugby for the Pretoria-based Super League team, which has struggled with a 3-8-0 record this season. But Barend van Graan, CEO of the team’s parent Blue Bulls Company, said the former All Blacks player and coach will coach the South African club side, calling it a “massive coup.”

Current Bulls coach Nollis Marais will stay on as coach of the Bulls Currie Cup team.

First up is a high-stakes date with Canada, however.

The 17th-ranked Americans host No. 22 Canada, coached by New Zealand’s Mark Anscombe, in a two-game aggregate series June 24 in Hamilton and July 1 in San Diego.

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The winner will slot into a formidable Pool C at the 2019 Rugby World Cup alongside No. 2 England, No. 6 France, No. 9 Argentina and an Oceania team.

The series loser can still qualify for the tournament via a playoff with the top remaining South American side. And the loser of that tie can still advance via a world repechage.

The 53-year-old Mitchell was hired by USA Rugby in January 2016.

“It has been a huge privilege to play a major part in USA Eagles history and be associated with the development of young American men living a dream playing and coaching for their country and developing a sustainable high-performance model that someone else can now lead and evolve,” Mitchell said in a statement. 

The Eagles are 7-5-0 in Test play under Mitchell, who will also oversee June Test matches against No. 4 Ireland and No. 12 Georgia prior to the Canada challenge.

“I am a professional and I expect others around me to respect this while in this transition,” said Mitchell. “My eyes will be on the plan for every minute as we cannot waste one of them to ensure we present ourselves the opportunity of making a lot of people happy.”

A 30-man Eagles squad is slated to assemble in New Jersey next week to prepare for the June matches.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press