Lesley McKenzie, Canadian Coach from Fort Nelson BC, Named to Portugal Men’s Coaching Staff

Rugbypass.com published a story a few days ago that hasn’t had much exposure in Canada, Lesley McKenzie the Canadian coach from Fort Nelson, BC has been added to the Portugal men’s coaching staff. Formerly, she was in charge of the Japan women’s team for six years 2019-2025 and guided them through two world cups. She had 25 caps playing for Canada then coached UBC for five years. She went to NZ for three years as a development officer before going to Japan to start as assistant coach in 2018, and then head coach in 2019. Now she’s in Portugal getting professional experience in the men’s game. She’ll also be assistant coach of the Europe Super Cup side Lusitanos which plays out of Lisbon and is the feeder for the Portugal national team.

Continue reading→

CW Rugby Launches Search for Head Coach, Senior Men’s Rugby

The Castaway Wanderers Rugby Football Club (CW Rugby) has begun the search for our next Head Coach of the Senior Men’s Program.

As one of British Columbia’s and Canada’s most established rugby clubs, CW Rugby combines a proud history with a forward-looking commitment to excellence. Our Senior Men’s program competes at the highest levels of amateur rugby, and we are seeking a leader who can build on that foundation.

Continue reading→

Is Kevin Rouet Creating a Coaching/Director Model That Specifically Fits Canadian Rugby?

RugbyPass, the World Rugby run media company, doesn’t cover Canadian rugby very often. They did an article on Jamie Cudmore in December 2024 lauding his attempt to revive Canadian men’s rugby, then immediately took it down when they discovered that Rugby Canada had hired Stephen Meehan as head coach. It was embarrassing for Rugby Canada and World Rugby. It seems they’ll stick to Canadian women’s rugby now which is much more stable under Kevin Rouet. They ran an article a few days ago, at the end of December 2025, which focused on Kevin Rouet and his unique position as head coach of Canadian women’s rugby and assistant coach at Saracens. The article is posted below but there are a couple of excerpts that deserve some more analysis from a Canadian perspective.

Continue reading→

Kévin Rouet Joins Saracens Coaching Staff on Secondment While Continuing Role of Canada Women’s Head Coach

In the “why not” category, today’s story is Kevin Rouet taking up the role of Attack Coach with the Saracens while maintaining his role as Head Coach of the Canada Women’s XVs team. The next matches for the Canadian women’s XVs are likely part of the Pacific Four series which according to a NZ Rugby source will take place in April. The PWR season takes a break after March 28th, Round 16, and resumes Round 17 on May 30th. The only conflict may be around the end of March depending on when in April the Pacific Four begins. With 25 Canadian players in England taking part in the PWR it seems like a sensible move. The only question is who is monitoring the talent in Canada during this time. If there’s good communication between Rouet and the Provincial leads, like John Tait in BC, then this shouldn’t be an issue. There’s also the 7s coach, Jocelyn Barrieau, who reports to Rouet and deals with a lot of the University level players and upcoming talent. The women’s program seems to have their act together, which is why they’re #2 in the world.

Continue reading→

Francois Ratier Named Head Coach of France Women’s XVs and Jack Hanratty Named Head Coach of USA Women’s XVs

Two Canadian coaches have been hired by other countries to lead their women’s rugby programs. Francois Ratier who led the Canadian women’s XVs team to a 2nd place finish at the 2014 World Cup is being appointed as the new France women’s XVs head coach. Jack Hanratty who led the Canadian women’s 7s team to a 2nd place finish, Silver Medal, at the 2024 Olympics is being appointed as the new USA women’s XVs head coach.

Continue reading→

Two Day Coaching Summit in Vancouver October 4th and 5th Featuring Phil Mack, Lesley McKenzie, Ben Herring

The Rugby Site is hosting a coaching summit at Capilano Rugby Club on October 4th and 5th, it will feature two international level Canadian coaches, Phil Mack and Lesley McKenzie. The website and registration link is here, the poster and some information on the summit is posted below. Well known BC coach Curry Hitchborn endorsed the coaching summit, the Rugby Site and CEO Phil Connolly , “the Rugby Site is THE best online resource for coaches, Phil ran a successful coaching development conference in Ontario a few months back. Based on feedback from some of the attendees I immediately reached out to Phil to see if he’d be keen on doing one in BC.”

Continue reading→

Elevate Your Game: Gainline Sports Coaching Brings World-Class Rugby Development to BC with Russell Earnshaw in Summer 2025!

Elevate your rugby coaching expertise with Gainline Sports Coaching’s world-class Coach Development Camp in British Columbia during Summer 2025. This highly anticipated program features lead coach Russell Earnshaw, a distinguished figure in rugby development.

Continue reading→