Former All Blacks coach loses job at Wasps

English rugby club Wasps have made 167 players and staff redundant – among them former All Blacks coach John Mitchell and former Hurricanes loose foward Brad Shields.

Mitchell has been in the role of assistant coach at the club for the past year, having previously been part of the coaching staff with the England men’s side.

John Mitchell
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Shields joined Wasps in 2018 from the Hurricanes and went onto to play nine tests for England.

Wasps have been put into administration becoming the second Premiership club to go into administration in the past three weeks.

The Coventry-based club were suspended by the Premiership last week.

It has now been confirmed that they have suffered the same fate as Midlands rivals Worcester and will be relegated.

After weeks of uncertainty and rumour about the club’s future, head coach Lee Blackett, his players and the rest of the staff were told of their immediate fate at meetings held at both the CBS Arena and Wasps’ training ground at Henley-in-Arden.

“A lot of people are really down…you think that a club of this size that something like this can’t happen, but unfortunately it has. And seeing the staff so upset is sickening,” he said.

“You realise it’s not just the players and staff, it’s the families behind them, their kids, their parents, everyone you see stood on the sidelines when you first go to watch a player.

Former Hurricanes player Brad Shields has been with Wasps since 2018 and played nine tests for England.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

“We’ve seen everything that has happened at Worcester – and we always hoped for positive news but this is the reality of it. The sad day has now come and, although things are ongoing and we now hope for some more positive news in the coming weeks, it’s hard to see past this day right now.

“We’ve worked so hard as a group and it now looks like we’ll be split up which is really sad. And the ones who’ve been brought up on Wasps – to lose that is absolutely gutting.”

But Arena Coventry Limited, which operates the Wasps-owned Coventry Building Society Arena, may still avoid going into administration.

While Wasps Holdings Limited are the firm to have actually entered administration, ACL, also part of Wasps, has filed a new notice of intention to appoint administrators with the High Court in London.

That would allow ACL, which holds the Coventry City Council lease to operate the stadium, a fortnight’s grace, which will give time to find further funding, so that the CBS Arena remains operational, and stadium tenants Coventry City’s Championship home matches can still be played.

Organisers of the Rugby League World Cup said they had “received written assurances” that Friday’s Australia v Scotland game at the stadium would also go ahead as planned.

Representatives from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby are to be quizzed by MPs next month.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee will “examine issues around the financial structure and viability of the game” and the role of the RFU and Premiership Rugby in “supporting clubs and ensuring the health of the sport”.

Committee chair Julian Knight said the situation with Wasps and Worcester “raises serious concerns about the future of the sport and its financial viability”.

Wasps were founder members when the first national rugby union league was created in 1987 – and also when the professional era began in 1996, becoming the first champions.

And, in 20 years of Twickenham Premiership finals, they have lifted the trophy four times, including the first three from 2003 to 2005.

-BBC