Join host Alex Chapman with special guests Buck Shelford & Michaela Blyde as they review the Semi-Finals of RWC 2019 - All Blacks v England - South Africa v Wales. VIDEO/Spark Sport/RWC/Mark Mitchell/SNTV/AP/Photosport/Gettyimages
By Mitch Cleary in Tokyo
It was shortly after dawn in Brisbane and in the Botanical Gardens there were strange grunting and groaning noises coming from beyond the foliage. There, on the other side of the hedge, were a bunch of track-suited men doing punishing routines of push-ups and shuttle runs.
The ringmaster was John Mitchell, pushing his charges hard, as he had promised to do following England's 76-0 humiliation by Australia at Lang Park.
It was June 1998 and Mitchell was forwards coach under Clive Woodward. The head coach had given the players a day off as planned following the horror show the night before.
Mitchell had disagreed with that. And said so. He got his way eventually. Monday morning was sweat-box time.
Mitchell is a mellower figure these days, as befits a 55-year-old. The former New Zealand back-row forward, who captained a Waikato team - including Warren Gatland at hooker - who beat the Lions 38-10 in 1993, has long been regarded as a tough nut.
Warren Gatland and John Mitchell, share a joke in 2007: Photo / Photo archive
In a varied, well-travelled coaching career that spans England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the United States, Mitchell has had his fair share of success as well as failure, and been involved with two player rebellions over his methodology.
There is something of the wise Buddha about him these days, with his domed head and black spectacles, suggesting a man who has a more holistic approach to the task in hand even if it was widely thought, when he was hired by Eddie Jones as defence coach only 13 months ago, that it would be a "bad cop, bad cop" partnership, with both being driven and uncompromising.
That was the perception - but the reality has proved to be somewhat different. Second-row forward Courtney Lawes spoke for the squad when he said yesterday: "We love him".
Mitchell has moved on from his old-school ways of working hard and playing hard off the field. He once summoned his players at Sale for an extra Sunday morning session after a disappointing display.
The players expected to be beasted round the field.
Instead, Mitchell locked the clubhouse doors and said that no one was leaving until a barrel of beer had been drunk between them.
Now, there is far more science in the process, far more nuance and empathy in getting the best from players, too. It is no longer one-size-fits-all.
Mitchell has been good for England and good for Jones.
Defence coach John Mitchell watches a training session in Tokyo, Japan: Photo / AP
As they approach the World Cup final, it is worth recalling that England were in a trough in the summer of 2018, just prior to Mitchell's appointment, with a run of five successive international losses ended only by a Danny Cipriani-influenced victory in the third test against South Africa, in Cape Town.
Defence coach Paul Gustard, one of the masterminds of the first series whitewash of Australia in 2016, had left to take over at Harlequins.
There was plenty of doubt around the hiring of Mitchell, not least because he would be commuting from his family home in Natal for various spells in training camps. He had also never in his career been solely responsible for defence.
Yet here are England with the joint best defensive record in the tournament - four tries conceded in five matches.
The All Blacks, who averaged almost five tries a game, were kept scoreless until the 57th minute, and even then England conceded through their own line-out blunder rather than an attacking move.
Mitchell has almost always been the boss himself, including his two years as head coach with the All Blacks, but he did not hesitate when the call came from Jones.
"It was an easy handshake," said Mitchell, who is charged now with keeping that defensive line intact against one of the most full-frontal, imposing sides in the game.
The Springbok way is at least familiar to Mitchell from his days with Waikato, who received a touring South African team in 1994.
"I got belted and we got belted as well," recalled Mitchell. "It was a guy called Adrian Geldenhuys. He got me a beauty. He had octopus arms. The final whistle blew and there they [the opposition] were, laughing. That was the game in those days.
"South African teams have a real desire to be direct and deliberate. It is in their DNA.
"It is very forward dominated. They love their scrum, love their line-out drive and love the physical nature of the game.
"There are many ways to play this game and they play it in a particular way. They always seem to have an intimidator at No 4 and that is just their way. It works for them.
"They can create pressure like no other team. That is what Springbok rugby has always been built on. You saw parts of all that in the semifinal [against Wales]. They have huge carrying threats.
"But what is great is that there is now another team that can create that pressure - and that is us."
England's Owen Farrell, right, talks with defence coach John Mitchell during a training session in Tokyo, Japan: Photo / AP
The only full-scale session takes place today with the management giving serious consideration to reverting to the midfield trio of Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade with George Ford finishing off things from the bench.
Today's session will be revealing, so too the build-up.
