Ex Colts League Player Makes Lions Squad to Tour Australia...

Alex Mitchell, British & Irish Lion 2025.

In 2003, at about the same time the England squad were boarding the plane to compete Downunder in the World Cup, a group of around 9 dads and lads met for the first time at a local park, Sowbrook, in Lymm.

Lymm RFC only had one pitch at their Beechwood home then, so the mini & junior teams were scattered throughout local parks to train and play, with the very occasional game at HQ – All very different now !!

The boys wanted to start playing this game called Rugby Union.

Amongst them was the smallest and youngest – Alex Mitchell, aged 6 in his trademark mismatching socks. This was the start of his youth rugby career. From the outset he was obviously a precocious talent. Even at 5 he was no stranger to a rugby ball. His father Glynn had been Head of Sport and Rugby at Kings School Rochester, and his elder brother James, also a scrum half, also played at Lymm in the NW Colts League. James went on to Professional rugby with Sale Sharks, Connacht, Northampton and latterly Jersey Reds.

Alex was a constant in the Lymm M&J teams throughout his youth career all the way through to his final game as a Senior Colt in his team’s win in the Colts League's Cock ‘O The North Final at Wharefdale in May 2015.

Alex didn’t begin as a scrum-half (though it was obvious to everyone he would eventually settle there). His slight issue was that at aged 6 and 7 he was reluctant to pass the ball. Something of a draw-back for a 9 !!
He also played at fly half, centre and full back and excelled at them all. But by age 11 though he was settled at 9. During his youth career he played at every age grade in the NW Colts League and helped his team mates to win succesive NW Colts League A titles, NW Colts League Cups, and Cheshire Junior Cups.

His first “taste” of the Twickenham turf came in the National U12 Cup as part of the victorious Lymm RFC squad – Alex scoring a try in the semi-final.  His Lymm High School career included an outstanding performance in LHS U18 teams that reached the NatWest Cup QFs on two occasions – an outstanding achievement for a state school pitted up against the deep resources of the public school sector – interestingly in the defeat by Oundle, Alex was facing the Curry brothers, whose careers have followed similar paths to Alex’s.

Although Alex joined the Sale Academy in 2012 and played England pathway rugby from under 16 to under 20, he stayed loyal to Lymm and turned out for them whenever he could.

He made his full England representative debut in June 2019 when he started for an England XV against the Barbarians at Twickenham, scoring a a try in that match albeit also suffering a bad knee injury which kept him out of the game for 12 months, scuppering his chances of being in England’s 2019 RWC squad.

Alex’s only league match for Lymm 1^st XV (his availability being heavily constrained due to commitments with Sale Sharks and representative sides) was as a 17-year old against Billingham, when his virtuoso performance and jaw-dropping try stole the show and helped win the match for Lymm.

His final match in a Lymm shirt came a couple of weeks later when he played at fly-half for Lymm Senior Colts in their Cock o’ the North Cup Final against Wharfedale.

His outstanding performance that day, his swansong before heading off to start his professional contract with Northampton Saints, quickly had the parochial North Yorkshire crowd purring in admiration and the match won for Lymm before half-time !

Good luck in Australia Alex !!
Best Wishes from all at the NW Colts League.

My thanks to Alex's Colts Coach Steve Downes for kindly penning the above writeup, ably assisted by his Lymm Colts cohort and ex Colts League Committee Member, Andy W Leach.

Regards in Colts Rugby.
 
Jon Kitchen - Chairman.
Halbro NW Colts League