Less than two years ago Drew Mitchell signed off on his Australian rugby career to join European giants Toulon. After 63 Tests for the Wallabies along with stints with the Reds, Force and Waratahs, at the ripe of old age of 30 his days in Super Rugby and in a green and gold jersey looked over. But with the ARU’s backflip two weeks ago to now allow overseas-based players to play for the Wallabies, as long as they earned 60 international caps and seven years of local service, that could all be about to change. Mitchell, along with Toulon team-mate Matt Giteau, are once again back in the Wallabies frame with the 2015 World Cup only four months away.
It would be a fitting reward for the two veteran Aussie outside backs, who have starred in the northern hemisphere over the past few seasons and helped push their French club to Top 14 and European domination. At the moment Toulon are on the brink of making history as they get ready to play their third European Cup final in a row. In the early hours of Sunday morning (Australian time) Mitchell, Giteau and Toulon’s motley crew of expensively assembled global talent – All Blacks Carl Hayman, Ali Williams and Chris Masoe, Springboks Juan Smith and Bakkies Botha, Welsh full-back Leigh Halfpenny to name just a few – will meet fellow French side Clermont Auvergne at Twickenham. The glamour club will be out to complete a hat-trick of European crowns, after defeating Clermont by a point in 2013’s decider and crushing English rivals Saracens 32-6 last year.
It’s heady days for the team known as ‘the Real Madrid of rugby’, who are expecting to welcome another Aussie in Quade Cooper into their fold next season, but Mitchell says he and his team-mates are keeping their feet firmly on the ground. “That’s something for the club and the papers to write about. In this playing group there’s probably been only four or five guys who’ve been involved in all three finals. So whilst it’d be great for the club, I think in this particular group at the moment is totally focused on achieving something for this year and I guess the by-product of that will be that we’ve achieved three in a row. That’s not something we’re really buying into too much, hopefully it’s an outcome of some success tomorrow but that’s certainly not our motivation going into the game.
In the 2014 final the backline connection of Mitchell, Giteau and English icon Jonny Wilkinson changed the game with an opportune piece of skill. In the 29th minute Wilkinson switched the play unexpectedly to find Giteau with a long pass. The inside centre chipped brilliantly and Mitchell was the first in the race to the ball, the winger offloading back to Giteau in support to score the first try. Toulon raced away with the match from there, over-powering Saracens and securing back-to-back European honours. Amazingly it was Mitchell’s first major final in his professional career. “It was right up there,” he admits. “It was actually the first final I’d ever been in, in senior football. It was great and hopefully we can replicate again this year.”
In Clermont Toulon are facing are a team that has been nipping at its heels for years. Less high-profile but arguably as well-financed as their opponents, Les Jaunards, are just four points behind Toulon on the Top 14 table with three games left. They are also stacked with international talent and are bankrolled by the French tyre giant Michelin. Leading them around the park at Twickenham will be another Australian, Brock James, while former Brumbies and Waratahs forward John Ulugia will be on the bench. James has spent most of his career with Clermont and is widely viewed as one of the best five-eighths in Europe.
The 33-year old James is someone Mitchell knows very well, as the pair started their careers together in Super Rugby more than a decade ago. “I’ve been with him at the Reds and the Force as well. I actually started when I was 18 in the same Australian Sevens team with him, so I’ve known him for quite some time. He’s always been a guy who’s been very skilful. I think this game up here suits him, he can put the ball on a dime on his foot, his pass is tremendous and the way he controls the game at fly-half is a really strong point of Clermont.”
James, unlike Mitchell and Giteau, isn’t eligible for the Wallabies at the World Cup. Despite the ARU’s change in policy being welcomed in many quarters, the requirement of 60 Test caps and seven years service means several former Wallabies, like Stade Francais’ Digby Ioane and Leinster’s Kane Douglas, remain unavailable for selection. The European rugby ranks will be swelled considerably by Australians next season with the arrivals of Adam Ashley-Cooper, James Horwill, Will Genia and Cooper. For Mitchell, the move to France has been a breath of fresh air and he is likely to finish his career with Toulon after recently re-signing: “I’m loving it. The climate’s good where we are in the south. Being successful also helps because the environment’s a little bit more relaxed, you get the opportunity to get around and see a bit more of Europe.”
The decision by the ARU came as a surprise to Giteau and Mitchell, but the winger isn’t expect a phone call from Wallaby management just yet. “Certainly with the criteria being 60 caps I’ve managed to scrape through with it,” he jokes. “For me, being eligible is one thing but being selected is a completely different thing. While there’s a little bit of talk about it, I’m probably just riding a little bit on Gits’ coat tails. If I can put in a couple of good performances and they’re seen by the right people, and I can add some value to the World Cup squad, then I’d be absolutely over the moon to be involved.”
For now it is Clermont that stands in the way of their destiny. Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will be one interested party watching to see if Toulon and their Aussie pair can grab a small slice of history, or if it is James, the cast-off of Australian rugby, who carves his team’s name on the trophy. Toulon might have the star names and the impressive recent run of success, but Clermont are far from pushovers. An almighty battle is still expected to take place in London on Saturday. “They’re the form side of not only the Top 14 but the European Championship,” Mitchell says. “Clermont’s performed at a really high standard, we’ve managed to scrap through in a few games where we probably should have put teams away. They’ve shown right across the board they’ve been really strong throughout the whole campaign and righty will be going into this game as favourites.”
