By Paul Eddison
John Mitchell is the perfect candidate to lead the inaugural Lions Women team when they tour New Zealand in 2027 according to England legend Maggie Alphonsi.
The current Red Roses boss is unbeaten since taking over the England role in 2023, and will hope to lead them to World Cup glory on home soil next year after they have fallen at the final hurdle in the last two editions.
On each occasion, it is the Black Ferns who have denied them, but England’s record since their loss at Eden Park in a thrilling final two years ago is a perfect 20 wins from 20, including back-to-back Grand Slams and two triumphs in WXV.
That record, along with the fact that Mitchell is a New Zealander – and therefore understands the country well – makes him the perfect candidate to lead the very first Lions Women team according to World Cup winner Alphonsi.
“You would want to go for a home nations coach, it would be pretty cool if John Mitchell said ‘I would take this on’. It’s not being biased towards England, I think that John Mitchell would make a lot of sense, a New Zealander, he knows the country, knows the set-up and would be a good person to put into that role. I would love to see a female coach there, but there are no female coaches at the top level,” said Alphonsi, speaking at a Howden – a Principal Partner on the Lions – event to celebrate the launch of the 2025 British & Irish Lions jersey.
“Imagine if John Mitchell did it. He’d have gone from coaching various men’s teams, to coaching the England women’s team. Who knows? He could win a World Cup in 2025 and then a Lions series in 2027. There’s a variety of people but he creates a level of excitement when you think about his background, what he’s achieved and his CV, it’s really impressive.”
The point Alphonsi makes around female coaches at the highest level is a fair one. Mitchell has Lou Meadows and Sarah Hunter on his coaching staff, but France co-coach Gaëlle Mignot and Australia boss Jo Yapp are the only current female coaches in the top roles for sides in the world’s top 10.
That decreases the likelihood of a female head coach for the first tour, but Alphonsi, who was a key figure when England last won the World Cup in 2014, believes that there must be female representation in the coaching staff, even if it does not come in the top role.
She added: “You’ve got to make sure the management team has the level of diversity, but when I say that, I mean talented people who know what they are doing. I would love to see whoever does become that, that we have a selection people of all genders from different nations.
“I don’t think there needs to be a specific gender for the head coach, it just needs to be someone who can get us that series win, that would be a great start to the Lions campaign.”
The launch of the Lions Women is a watershed moment for women’s rugby, although it comes too late for Alphonsi, who called time on her playing career after winning the World Cup a decade ago.
But her ties to the world’s most famous touring team go back much further and she is hopeful that both her children will get the chance to do what she could not.
She added: “In 2027, the Lions Women’s Series in New Zealand is going to be phenomenal. We are going to get to keep the Lions brand going, it won’t just be every four years, it will be every two years, that Lion is not going to rest.
“To be able to have that opportunity to represent the red jersey is really special. Growing up, I never had the chance to do it, but I’ve got one son and one daughter, and they will get that chance, that is quite powerful. When it eventually happens, it is going to be a big revolution in the red jersey, it will connect everyone who represents those home nations, they will represent greatness.”
To celebrate the launch of the 2025 British & Irish Lions jersey, Howden, a Principal Partner on the Lions, is touring the UK challenging the public to ‘Kick for Greatness’ to win a money-can’t-buy prize to warm up game against Argentina in Dublin, with exclusive squad training access!
