Drew Alan Mitchell (born 26 March 1984) is a former Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

professional player. He played on the wing or as fullback. Up to the 2006 season he played for the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions ...

. He played for the Western Force for the 2007–09

Super 14 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

seasons. From 2010 to 2013 he played for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the stat ...

. Since 2013 he has played for

RC Toulon R&C, RC, R/C, Rc, or rc may refer to: Science and technology Computing * rc, the default Command line interface in Version 10 Unix and Plan 9 from Bell Labs * .rc (for "run commands"), a filename extension for configuration files in UNIX-like ...

. He made his debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in 2005 and is Australia's highest try scorer in World Cup history.

Early life

Mitchell was educated at Strathpine West State School and

St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe , motto_translation = Fight the Good Fight , city = Shorncliffe, Brisbane , state = Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = ...

and played his junior rugby for the Pine Rivers Pumas Rugby Union club, going on to play rugby for

University of Queensland Rugby Club The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rugby was adopt ...

. Mitchell went on to captain the Queensland Academy of Sport U-19 team as well as going on to be an Australian Schoolboy and Sevens international.

Career

Mitchell made his international debut for the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

in 2005, after being selected after a season with the

in which he scored 11 tries and was named Australia's rookie of the year. Mitchell's international career stalled after Australia's autumn international tour in 2005, and he didn't feature for the Wallabies again until Wales visited in 2007. By this time Mitchell had switched to newly formed Western Force and impressed enough to gain a place in the Australia squad for the 2007 World Cup in France. He scored seven tries during that tournament. Mitchell's domestic future again had a period of speculation when he was approached by the

NSW Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the sta ...

and the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

ahead of the 2010 Super Rugby season. Mitchell eventually signed for the

, replacing

Sam Norton-Knight Sam Norton-Knight (born 2 December 1983, in Canberra) is an Australian international rugby union footballer. He was born in Canberra but was educated on the Gold Coast. Norton-Knight was selected in the under-19 ACT team and subsequently made ...

. Mitchell dislocated his ankle and broke a bone in his leg after he collided with

Scott Higginbotham Scott Higginbotham (born 5 September 1986) is a retired Australian rugby union player. Capped 32 times for Australia's national team, the Wallabies, Higginbotham's usual positions are blindside flanker and number eight. Higginbotham currentl ...

of the Reds during their match on Saturday, 23 April and was initially ruled out of the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

. However, he subsequently made a full recovery and was included in Australia's tournament squad. He made one substitute appearance against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and in two starts scored one try against the USA and two against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. He injured his hamstring in the final pool stage match of the 2011 World Cup, missing the remainder of the tournament. In the lead up to the

2012 Super Rugby season The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the current 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition, which involves teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super R ...

Mitchell suffered an ankle problem, and missed the Waratahs pre-season games. He did not play any games in the first half of the competition, making only five appearances all season. In 2013, Mitchell agreed a two-year deal to play for

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

for the

2012–13 Top 14 season The 2012–13 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Two new teams from the 2011–12 Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Grenoble and Stade Montois in p ...

. Mitchell went on to make 81 appearances for the Toulon side, securing several European & French crowns, his final match being a Top 14 Final loss to Clermont. Mitchell's international career turned to a standstill after he left the

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

back in 2013, but with the

Australian Rugby Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

change of rules to the eligibility of overseas based

players under Giteau's law, Mitchell and Toulon teammate Matt Giteau were included in the Wallabies' squad for the

2015 Rugby Championship The 2015 Rugby Championship was the fourth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The 2015 Championship was a shorter competition than normal, with ...

. With solid performances playing against the Springboks in the 24–20 win at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

, and the 27–19 win against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

ANZ Stadium ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

, Mitchell was included in the Wallabies' 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was on ...

. Mitchell's last match playing for the Wallabies was in the 2016 Rugby Championship victory against the Springboks, coming off the bench after a groin injury. On 17 April 2017, Mitchell announced the end of his rugby career on Twitter in spite of previous reports of a possible return to the

. In February 2022, Mitchell participated in a charity match at Suncorp Stadium to raise funds for Tonga after a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

devastated the island nation. After taking a number of heavy tackles from the Tongan side, Mitchell jokingly remarked that he "donated a hamstring and a rib to the Tongan relief fund", and also stressed that there was "no chance" of a comeback to the sport. Mitchell is now a rugby commentator for Stan Sport.

References

External links

*
Profile
on ESPN Scrum
Waratahs profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Drew 1984 births Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Queensland Reds players Western Force players New South Wales Waratahs players RC Toulonnais players Living people Rugby union players from Brisbane Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks