Ben Mitchell (born 6 April 1994) is an English-born Irish professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who is currently a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

. , he is with the United States team

Rugby Football Club Los Angeles Rugby FC Los Angeles (RFCLA) is an American professional rugby union team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team began play in 2020 Major League Rugby season, 2020 as Rugby ATL, based in Atlanta, Geo ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). He previously played for Youghal RFC,

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the Gentlemen of Aspen RFC of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Austin Elite The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby. History On September 19, 2019, after extensive polling at the ...

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion are an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team plays its home games at Torero Stadium. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 ...

and

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

Career

Mitchell was educated at the independent

Midleton College Midleton College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. In past centuries it has also been called Midleton School. Although founded in 1696, the school did not open until 1717. It went thr ...

and then at University College Cork (UCC), both of which have produced leading rugby players. At UCC, he studied Commerce and joined

University College Cork RFC University College Cork Rugby Football Club is an Ireland, Irish rugby union club which plays in 2024–25 All-Ireland League (rugby union)#Division 1B, Division 1B of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. Founded in 1872, t ...

. In his first year and a half, he played in the university club's under-20 team, then in 2014 joined the senior team in the All Ireland League, remaining on the team until halfway through the 2017/18 season. In 2015/2016, UCC RFC was promoted to Division 1 of the League.Cork man Mitchell making big impression in Major League Rugby in the US
dated 20 May 2018 at the42.ie, accessed 21 April 2019 In 2016 and 2017, Mitchell was selected for the Irish Universities to play the English Universities. He was UCC RFC player of the year for the 2016/17 season and played his last game for the team in November 2017. At the end of the 2016 AIL season Mitchell was selected on the bench for a

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby () is one of the professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union, ...

A/Development side against the Irish under 20s team In 2016 and 2017, Mitchell was a summer player for the Gentlemen of Aspen in the Rocky Mountain Summer League, starring in the ''Ruggerfest'' tournament in 2017. In October 2017 he signed a two-year contract with Austin Elite to join the team for the inaugural

season of 2018 and was re-signed in January 2019. In 2018 and 2019 Mitchell played as lock for Austin in every game but one. In 2019 he became team captain, taking over from Andrew Suniula. In 2018 Mitchell was named on the All-MLR 1st team and was regarded as the best lock in the competition. In 2019 he again achieved All-MLR honors by being named on the All-MLR 2nd team. In August 2019 he was signed by

, in what was seen as a major blow for the Austin franchise. In late 2020 he will qualify for the

United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

by residency in the US and is predicted to be of interest to the selectors. In 2019 he was named as the head coach of the Gentlemen of Aspen. He helped the Gentlemen of Aspen to the 2021 Ruggerfest title as player/coach. He was resigned by San Diego Legion for 2020–21. In October 2021 Mitchell was selected for the

Selects team to play in the Americas Pacific Challenge in Uruguay. Mitchell played in both games in Uruguay against Chile A and Brazil A and was singled out by head coach Mike Tolkin as one of the USA’s standout performers on the tour. Mitchell became the 14th player in

history to play 50 times in the competition. Mitchell was named in the All-MLR 1st team for the 2022 season. This was Mitchell’s 3rd All-MLR selection in 5 seasons, having been named on the 1st Team in 2018 and 2nd Team in 2019. In the 2022 MLR offseason it was announced that Mitchell had signed a multi-year contract with the

franchise ahead of the 2023 MLR Season. In April 2024

RFCLA Rugby FC Los Angeles (RFCLA) is an American professional rugby union team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team began play in 2020 Major League Rugby season, 2020 as Rugby ATL, based in Atlanta, Geo ...

confirmed the signing of Mitchell to bolster their squad for the remainder of the 2024 MLR season. Mitchell returned to MLR after spending time away from the sport to focus on professional life outside of Rugby. General Manager of RFCLA, Mark Carney had the following to say on RFCLA's newest addition: “We are excited to welcome Ben to RFCLA for 2024. Ben has a wealth of experience in the MLR and will be a vital member of the squad as we continue to develop our team identity".

References

External links

Ben Mitchell
at americasrugbynews.com
Ben Mitchell
at ultimaterugby.com *
Ben Mitchell
at majorleague.rugby {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Ben 1994 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Austin Gilgronis players Irish expatriate rugby union players in the United States People educated at Midleton College Rugby union players from Nottingham Rugby union locks English rugby union players Irish rugby union players American rugby union players San Diego Legion players Seattle Seawolves players University College Cork RFC players Gentlemen of Aspen RFC players Rugby Football Club Los Angeles players