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

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 ...

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 based in Brisbane 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 ...

. He played for the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

for the 2007–09 Super 14 seasons. From 2010 to 2013 he played for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

. Since 2013 he has played for

RC Toulon Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

. He made his debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 St Patrick's College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located on the waterfront in Shorncliffe, north of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. Established by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1952, the ...

and played his junior rugby for the Pine Rivers Pumas Rugby Union club, going on to play rugby for University of Queensland Rugby Club. 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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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

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 ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play ...

and the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 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 brumby, feral horses wh ...

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

, replacing Sam Norton-Knight. Mitchell dislocated his ankle and broke a bone in his leg after he collided with Scott Higginbotham 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 World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

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

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 ...

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

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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 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 has previously included tea ...

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 (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

for the 2012–13 Top 14 season. 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

back in 2013, but with the Australian Rugby change of rules to the eligibility of overseas based Australian Rugby players under

Giteau's law Giteau's law, or the Giteau law, is a name given to a practice by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) introduced in 2015 to allow overseas-based Australian rugby union players to be eligible to play for the Australian national rugby union team. The po ...

, Mitchell and Toulon teammate

Matt Giteau Matthew James Giteau (born 29 September 1982) is an Australian rugby union professional player who plays for the San Diego Legion of Major League Rugby (MLR). Giteau plays as a Rugby union positions#Utility players, utility back. His usual posi ...

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 The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship consisting of Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, ...

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

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

, and the 27–19 win against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

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

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 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 ...

. 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 , ) 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 underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

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

*
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 Toulon players Living people Rugby union players from Brisbane Rugby union wings Rugby union fullbacks 2015 Rugby World Cup players University of Queensland Rugby Club players People educated at St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe Australian expatriate rugby union players in France Australian sports podcasters 21st-century Australian sportsmen