John Mitchell believes England can close gap with All Blacks

Newly appointed England defence coach John Mitchell believes the red rose team has all the abilities to dethrone New Zealand when the teams converge in Japan for the 2019 World Cup.

Mitchell, who replaced Paul Gustard has already worked with England in the past under Sir Clive Woodward and will be part of Eddie Jones' back-room staff until the showpiece event next year.

New Zealand are clearly the favourites to win their third consecutive World Cup but the Springboks recently jolted their momentum in the previous round of the Rugby Championship in Wellington when they handed a 34-36 defeat to the All Blacks.

Mitchell stated that the defeat against South Africa will only make New Zealand even more determined but believes England have the ability to pip the World Champions to win their second title since the 2003 edition.

“I really believe that we can get better and be the best within a year’s time,” he said.

“I really do believe that. I believe I can play a part in that and contribute to that.

“They’re a very outstanding group and they’ve evolved the game as well. But this is a World Cup year and a World Cup does close the gap for some reason.

“It’s knockout rugby and you just need to focus on being a better team yourself. That’s what we’ve got to do.

“We can’t focus on them even though we get an opportunity to prepare and play against them, but focus on ourselves.

“They set the benchmark and send out the signal to all of us, ‘you come and get us’. The Boks hung in there extremely well in Wellington and got what they wanted, but that’ll probably make the All Blacks even better and that makes our challenge even more exciting.

The 54-year-old is also excited by the prospect of England and New Zealand facing each other during the upcoming autumn internationals at Twickenham.

“It’s probably been too long since England played the All Blacks so it’s what makes November such an exciting opportunity.”