Sean White Leaving Role as Canada Men’s 7s Coach
Rugby Canada announced today that Sean White will be leaving his role as men’s 7s coach at the end of his contract in July. The status of the men’s 7s program is really up in the air, they didn’t directly qualify for the Division 2 series which came with some World Rugby funding, they likely won’t be getting much money from Own the Podium as they don’t look like an Olympic contender at the moment. They probably will compete at the RAN 7s, there’s been no date announced for that, the winner of that tournament will compete at the Division 3 tournament where 2 teams will advance to the Division 2 series.
Rugby Canada did mention the team will participate at the Vancouver 7s as they did last year in a 3 team exhibition tournament.
Who will take over coaching wasn’t mentioned in the Rugby Canada article, or even if they would advertise the position. It’s possible it will come under existing staff. If Phil Mack is still part of the men’s XVs coaching staff, and we don’t know that for sure as Steve Meehan hasn’t announced his coaching staff, then he would be a good choice for the men’s 7s program.
We’ve seen other countries, who didn’t qualify for the Division 2 series, announce they’re dropping 7s entirely. The Irish Rugby Union announced, it “has made the decision to cease the Men’s Sevens programme following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season”.
Personally, I’ve wondered why the Pacific Pride, the Rugby Canada Academy, don’t continue on through the summer and enter a team in some high profile events, like the RugbyTown 7s. There’s a number of Canadian based 7s tournaments, even in BC and Western Canada, and I’m sure organizers would love to have a high profile national academy side in attendance. It would be a good build up to the high level RugbyTown 7s.
from Rugby Canada
Sean White, Head Coach of Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team, will leave his role upon the conclusion of the first term of his contract in July.
Rugby Canada completed a review of the men’s sevens program at the end of the 2024-25 season, taking into account the changing landscape of sevens globally, the current priorities of the overall men’s national program, and Rugby World Cup qualification later this year. It was decided that a program change at this time would be in the best interest of qualification for the LA 2028 Olympics and redefining the team’s role within international men’s rugby.
“On behalf of Rugby Canada, I would like to thank Sean for his hard work and dedication to the men’s program and the work he did in developing our players,” said Nathan Bombrys, CEO of Rugby Canada. “We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”
Canada’s Men’s Sevens Team will next compete on home soil at HSBC SVNS Vancouver in 2026. More information on the 2025-26 season schedule and locations will be announced when possible.
“We wish him all the best in his future endeavours.” Ouch. White inherited a system wherein all the big names of Canada 7s retired after Tokyo, and even in that Olympics too many of the players were well past their prime. So, basically he was starting from scratch, and was forced to on account of the near-sightedness of the coaching staff that preceded him.
All the best to Sean, he did great job with a broken system. I’m sure that the BCRU will pick him up or a University system somewhere, he’s too valuable to just wonder off into the sunset.
The reality is 7’s is dying, Great Britain has announced that they are dropping their 7’s program also.
Agreed – a valuable resource to keep in the system.
That’s actually incorrect — GB is not dropping their 7s program, they’re shifting from a full-time to a part-time model, with players still coming together to train and compete on the World SVNS Series under a new contract structure. This is different from Ireland, who are discontinuing their 7s program entirely.
It’s the beginning. A Part time “pay to play model” is not going to work in a global game of professionalism. . World rugby is on the verge of losing Olympic status for the 7’s game if they don’t make some drastic changes and put some life back into it.
There isn’t one European stop for the main circuit, WHY? Tier 2 only has three events and tier 3 only has one per year. Not a lot of room for growth.