NATIONAL NEWS - “Exposing” tough taskmaster John Mitchell to a young Stormers side and management team would have been the wrong decision for the Western Cape Super Rugby franchise.

That was one of the reasons given by Western Province Rugby Union (WPRU) president Thelo Wakefield for Mitchell being overlooked for the Stormers job vacated by Eddie Jones, according to a Netwerk24 report.

Mitchell was identified as one of the favourites to take over from Jones, who left the Cape side just a few weeks after moving to the Super Rugby franchise from the Japanese national team. Jones was the mastermind behind Japan’s giant-killing victory over the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup, where the Asian outfit won two other matches.

But Jones dumped the Stormers for the greener pastures of England in a shock move, despite saying that he was enjoying waking up to “Table Top Mountain”.

That saw Mitchell as the likely successor as WP director of rugby Gert Smal said that the new coach would have to be someone with “six to seven years” of coaching in Super Rugby who had also been involved at Test level.

Mitchell was a successful coach of the All Blacks in the early 2000s with an 80 percent win record, and had been of the Western Force and Lions in Super Rugby in the last decade.

But he left the Force and Lions in acrimonious circumstances, with reports of unhappiness over Mitchell’s no-nonsense approach with regards to his coaching methods and management of players, and that counted against him when he was considered for the Stormers job.

Wakefield confirmed that Smal had recommended Mitchell be appointed as the new Stormers coach, but WPRU (Pty) Ltd chairman Sam Dube, CEO Rob Wagner and the president himself were against the move.

Wakefield said the franchise had spoken to various administrators and players who had been coached by Mitchell.

“We made a massive investment in young players like Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Damian de Allende, Siya Kolisi, Scarra Ntubeni and several others. It will be wrong to expose them, as well as team management, to such risk,” Wakefield said.

“As much as I would have liked to have adhered to Gert’s request, I remained hesitant. I believe in Gert’s knowledge of the game and I let him (take) the lead. However, there comes a time when a request needs to the denied for valid reasons.”