Sean White Confirmed as Men’s 7s Coach Through to Paris 2024
Finally some good news from Rugby Canada on the coaching front, Sean White has been confirmed as head coach through to Paris 2024. The only question is why only a year when Kingsley Jones was given two years and failed to meet objectives, qualifying for the World Cup. Sean White brought a team back from the brink of falling off the World 7s Series and therefore potentially saving the Vancouver 7s as a stop on the World 7s Series. He deserves this and more. I suppose using Rugby Canada logic, if Canada fail to qualify for Paris 2024 he’s guaranteed a 2 year extension after that.
from Rugby Canada
Wednesday October 18, 2023 (Langford, BC) – Sean White has been confirmed as Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team’s Head Coach through Paris 2024.
Appointed as Assistant Coach of Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team in April 2022, White took on the role of interim Head Coach in November 2022, working in the daily training environment in Langford alongside Kingsley Jones and Phil Mack and leading Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team through the majority of the 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which included winning the crucial Series Play-off.
Throughout 2023, White was mentored by Scott Johnson, the internationally renowned former coach and Director of Rugby for Scotland, Wales and Australia, who was brought in by Rugby Canada to support White as he transitioned from Assistant to Head Coach.
“We are excited to have Sean leading our men’s sevens team through another season,” said Stephen Aboud, Rugby Canada Director of High Performance. “Many aspects of the growth and development of the men’s sevens team over the past year are a reflection of the team’s staff and in particular Sean’s contributions as Head Coach, with one example being the quality of improvement in the program’s younger players. His character and competence position him well for this role, and we look forward to continuing to support Sean as Head Coach, as our men’s sevens team works towards their ultimate goal of qualification for Paris 2024.”
“The growth that our men’s sevens team has demonstrated over this past year has been encouraging. Sean’s approach has been built around continuous growth and improvement as a team, and you can see the boys have been really playing for each other during these past few tournaments. We’ve seen Sean grow as a coach and his collaboration with our wider national team programs has been very positive,” said Nathan Bombrys, Rugby Canada CEO. “Sean has come through the Canadian system, first as a player and now as a coach, so he understands just how important it is that we come together as one squad if we are to achieve our potential for Canada. We look forward to supporting Sean and the team as they kick off the season with the Pan American Games next month.”
From Victoria, BC, White earned 32 caps for Canada’s Men’s Rugby Team, including three at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and played 28 games for Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team. He competed in two Commonwealth Games and won gold at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
“I’m really pleased to be able to carry on with this group another season as we continue to build as a collective. I truly believe this group has only scratched the surface of its capability and has something special inside of it. We saw it in moments last season in Toulouse, in London, and in other games throughout the year,” said White. “To reach our goals this season, we will learn from our mistakes last year as a staff and as players and grow from them. There is no effort without error. In our daily training environment we will challenge and push each other to build consistency. Ultimately, consistency under pressure is what will best prepare us for success in a competitive SVNS series and best prepare us for success at the Olympic Repechage Tournament.”
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team competes at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games over November 3-4. The 2024 HSBC SVNS kicks off December 1-3, the first of eight stops between December and May, with the team competing on home soil in front of Canadian fans at Vancouver SVNS over February 23-25. This will be followed by the Final Olympic Repechage Tournament (dates and location TBA).