Austin Elite Rugby signed Ben Mitchell for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. He is 24 years old, 6’7″, 245lbs. and was a lineout force with the team in 2018.
Mitchell was born in Nottingham, England and moved to Ireland when he was 6 years old. He then began playing rugby that same year at Youghal RFC, East Cork, Ireland, the local club side. Mitchell attended High school at Midleton College, East Cork, playing center and fullback and was selected on the Munster School’s team in 2011 as a center.
After graduating high school, he attended University College Cork in 2012, majoring in Economics and Finance. He also played rugby with UCC RFC. During his first year with the club, he was moved from center to the second row. For the first one and a half years, he played on the under 20s team and by 2014 made his debut in the senior/ All Ireland league, where he played on the senior team for over 5 seasons from 2014 through to the 2017/18 season. The UCC RFC was promoted from division 2 to division 1 of the All Ireland league in the 2015/2016 season. Mitchell was also honored as the UCC RFC player of the year on 2 occasions and played his last game for the team in November 2017.
Representative Rugby Honors
Ben Mitchell played for Munster A/Development team against the Ireland 20s in May 2016 at Thomond Park in Limerick. He also played on the Irish Universities team in 2016 and 2017.
Rugby in the United States
Mitchell played for the Gentlemen of Aspen in the Rocky Mountain Summer League during 2016 and 2017. He signed with Austin Elite Rugby in October 2017 and was a key member of the team during 2018 Major League Rugby season. That will continue in 2019.
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