Australia’s Drew Mitchell may have carved out World Cup history last week but the winger has set his sights on bigger goals.
Australian rugby has always been blessed with dynamic wingers over the years, fantastic finishers who could score a try or pull out something special when it was least expected. The versatile and free-thinking Joe Roff won the 1999 World Cup, along with a host of other trophies for club and country, and could play equally well on the flank and at full-back. The speedy Chris Latham was also part of the Wallabies’ 1999 World Cup-winning squad, starring in both positions and racking up more than 70 caps.
Ben Tune was a bullocking presence on the wing; also a member of that 1999 lineup, while the goal-kicker Stirling Mortlock’s time came four years later and his best football was arguably played in the centres. Rugby league converts Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor were also part of the 2003 squad, who lost the final to England, and both were destructive forces out wide.
When it comes to Wallaby wing play, however, one man, and one man alone, stands out above the rest. David Ian Campese, better known worldwide as “Campo”, was one of a kind. Quick, elusive, eccentric, purveyor of the goose step; the legendary Campese was a star in the days before rugby went professional. His brilliance helped Australia secure the 1991 World Cup, while his risky pass may have cost the Wallabies the 1989 series against the British and Irish Lions.
One Australian flyer has now superseded them all in the record books, however, after a pair of tries against Uruguay on Sunday. Mitchell, with his 11th and 12th Word Cup tries, has now scored more in the tournament’s history than any other Wallaby, going past Latham’s tally of 11 and Campese’s 10. It is hallowed territory. Mitchell’s haul is only three below the New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu, who has 15, and the former All Black Doug Howlett, with 13. Hot on the Australian’s heels, though, is the Springbok Bryan Habana, who has 11 after grabbing a five-pointer against Samoa in Birmingham.
Mitchell was quick to play down his accomplishment straight after his match: “It’s a special moment but I hope there’s bigger things for us as a group. Hopefully that’s [the record] something after this campaign that I can look back on personally but I really hope it’s a good outcome for all the boys.”
Nevertheless, it remains an impressive feat by Mitchell; even more impressive considering until very recently his time in time in a Wallaby shirt was over. Having joined the French club Toulon in 2013, the Australian Rugby Union’s criteria prevented selection from outside the ranks of Super Rugby. The Queenslander’s once flourishing international career had ended – but enter Michael Cheika; a rethink from the ARU and Mitchell was back in. Waning depth and a spate of outstanding performances in Europe convinced the coach that the 31-year-old deserved another chance.
Overlooked for the opener against Fiji, Mitchell played the full 80 minutes against Uruguay. After a slow start he crossed for two tries, the second an eye-catching scoring where he tore apart the Teros’ defence. The double demonstrated his value as an outside-back with speed, size and skill, who still knows how to get over the try-line. It wasn’t enough for Mitchell to gain a spot against England, with Rob Horne and close friend Adam Ashley-Cooper preferred, but the winger is line for a shot against Wales in just over a week’s time.
The reignition of Mitchell’s Wallaby career, two years after it prematurely ended, is something the former Waratah, Force and Red is relishing. “To be involved in another World Cup, just the atmosphere on and off the field that it is another World Cup, is fantastic,” he says. “It’s just good to get out there.”
There is little Mitchell hasn’t seen or experienced in his 12 years of professional rugby, including sellout crowds and spine-tingling atmospheres at Twickenham. He was there in May, scoring an unbelievable solo try that helped Toulon defeat Clermont to win the European Rugby Champions Cup. He was with the Wallabies three years ago, when Australia last beat England on English soil. He was there with the Wallabies eight years ago, when Australia were knocked out of the 2007 World Cup by England in Marseille.
While Mitchell will not be on the field on Saturday [Sunday morning Australian time] against the same opponents, his northern hemisphere experience has already been put to good use. He and Wallaby team-mates Matt Giteau, Kane Douglas and Dean Mumm are well versed in the sound and fury of European rugby through their club stints.
“There’s a real type of rugby that’s played in the southern hemisphere; obviously I grew up with it and played it for a long time. To be exposed to the northern hemisphere psyche and the things they hold valuable in a game, like the set-piece stuff, the field positioning, just building points and that type of stuff, it’s something we can bring back and pass on to the group. We may speak 10 times but if they take one thing out of it then it’s going to be valuable. Hopefully we can add a little bit to the boys.”
Seven tries in his first World Cup in 2007, with a double against Japan and Canada, and a hat-trick against Fiji. Three tries in his second tournament in 2011, with one against the USA and two against Russia, before injury ruled him out. Mitchell has a lot of rugby left in him. It is the ultimate prize – the Webb Ellis Cup – not try-scoring history, however, that really drives him. Win a World Cup and there can be no debate about Mitchell’s place alongside Campese, Roff, Latham and co.
“My last World Cup campaign finished on a sour note, with a torn hamstring against Russia in the pool stages,” he says. “To get out there again and to experience it all … my parents are here as well, which is nice. World Cups are special and to be involved in a third one is a special thing for me.”
