Rugby Canada Job Announcements – January 2024

Rugby Canada Announce Pacific Pride Head Coach Opening; Position Also Responsible for Men’s U20

Earlier in the week Phil Mack was announced as the Attack Coach of the men’s XVs program, in that article it stated Phil would remain with the Pride program as “Technical Lead”. We thought that would mean head coach but later Rugby Canada came out with a job opening for the Pacific Pride Pathway Coach that would include being “Head Coach” of the Pride and “Senior Coach” of the men’s U20 program. The deadline for applications is Feb 4th.

There are a few things to digest in these announcements.

What will the Pride program look like with a Head Coach, Technical Lead and a level of integration with the U20 program at the coaching level? It’s a good concept, we had proposed earlier there should be some integration between the Pride Academy and the men’s U20 program. Will the Pride continue to play in the BC Premier next season, will they join one of the professional leagues in the USA (MLR) or South America (SLAR) next season. The job description states, “Minimum 8 weeks of travel per year”.

Pacific Pride Pathway Coach Job Description

The opening in the men’s coaching staff presumably was initiated by Rob Howley leaving to return to Wales. Howley was brought into the Canada coaching staff in 2020 after he was banned from rugby for 9 months for betting infractions before the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He lost his coaching position with the Welsh Rugby Union. The fact he could walk into a Canadian national team coaching position based on a friendship with head coach Kingsley Jones, ahead of qualified Canadian contenders, remains an example of how Kingsley Jones was running the men’s XVs program. We can assume that now Stephen Aboud is Director of High Performance he has some say in the hiring process.

The Rugby Canada website still haven’t updated their men’s XVs coaching staff page.

Men’s XVs Coaching Staff (Rugby Canada webpage Jan 20 2024)