English born, Irish raised lock Ben Mitchell played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2024. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2018-2019), the San Diego Legion (2020-2022) Seattle Seawolves (2023) and Rugby FC LA (2024).

Born in Nottingham, Mitchell moved to Ireland with his family when he was 6, and began playing youth rugby with Youghal RFC in Cork. He played centre and fullback through high school and was selected to the Munster School’s team in 2011, before attending UC Cork in 2012 and playing with UCC RFC where he was moved from the backs into the second row. Mitchell initially played with the U20 side but earned his All-Ireland League debut in 2014 where he played through the 2017/18 season during which time UCC RFC was promoted from Div 2 to Div 1.

Mitchell signed with the Austin Elite in 2017, ahead of MLR’s inaugural season the following year, earned 23 appearances (all starts) for Austin through the first 2 seasons of MLR, scoring 4 tries and completing 289 tackles. He Captained the Elite for his entire time there, and earned All-MLR selections in both seasons. Mitchell moved from Austin to San Diego ahead of the truncated 2020 season, appearing in 4 games (2 starts) as the Legion recorded a 5-0 record before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Mitchell earned 31 appearances for the Legion in total (27 starts) between 2020-2022, scoring 3 tries and becoming the 14th player in league history to earn 50 MLR caps, which he achieved in 2022. Mitchell then headed up the west coast to join the Seawolves in Seattle for the 2023 season, recording another 11 appearances, before returning to California with the newly relocated and rebranded Rugby FC LA, where he earned 2 starts in 2 games during their inaugural MLR season in 2024.

To date, Mitchell is among the highest capped MLR players, with 67 appearances (58 starts) across 7 seasons in Major League Rugby.

achievements

• MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 11
• 14th Player in League History to reach 50 MLR Caps – 2022
• 2019 All-MLR Second XV Selection
• 2018 All-MLR First XV Selection