Here We Go Again: Rugby Canada Axe Women’s XVs Head Coach
It’s shades of the Women’s 7s program and John Tait again. This time it’s Sandro Fiorino who’s getting the axe. Again it appears to be a player led revolt.
We first heard about it several weeks ago through the grapevine, along the lines of “player xx didn’t get started for her milestone cap and Sandro is gone”. We didn’t pay too much attention at the time, a player is usually started on a milestone cap but is it reason to sack a coach? Apparently there was some discontent among the senior players and boom, Sandro is gone. The Rugby Canada press release didn’t castigate Sandro like they did with John but the result is the same. He’s gone.
Another similarity is it’s done months ahead of the pinnacle event for the team, for the 7s it was the Olympics, for the XVs it’s the World Cup. Both events were delayed by COVID which seemingly raised the tensions.
The two are connected through funding as well, the poor performance of the 7s team at the Olympics caused a drop in OTP funding which caused Rugby Canada to drop the Rugby Canada Development Academy in Ontario which Sandro led. Rugby Canada implied that was part of their reason for terminating Sandro.
Sandro just came off a successful November tour, defeating USA twice, Wales and only losing to top ranked England.
It’s becoming a bit of a joke now that to keep your coaching job at Rugby Canada you have to excel at losing, it’s worked for the men’s XVs and 7s coaches, obviously it didn’t work for the winning women’s 7s and XVs coaches.
We’ll see if the women’s XVs program is effected by this upheaval as they prepare for the October World Cup in NZ. They finished second to England in 2014, a feat they’ll hope to match or improve on this year.
from Rugby Canada
March 15, 2022 (Langford, BC) Rugby Canada has confirmed a change to the Senior Womens 15s setup which will see Kevin Rouet take the reigns as Head Coach. He will replace Sandro Fiorino, who brings an end to an 11-year stint with the organization, including four years as Head Coach of the Senior Womens 15s program.
Rouet comes into the role with notable experience having been the Assistant Coach of the Womens 15s squad for the last four years, as well as the Head Coach of the Womens Program at Laval University, Rugby Quebecs Provincial Womens program and assistant coach at Stade Bordelais, a professional club based in Bordeaux, France.
Rouet has signed on to lead the team through to the end of the 2021 Womens Rugby World Cup, which takes place in New Zealand later this year having originally been postponed due to COVID-19.
Im delighted to be named Head Coach of the Canadian Senior Womens 15s squad at such an exciting time, Rouet commented. We have the quality to achieve a podium finish at the Rugby World Cup and that will be our primary aim as our preparations continue over the coming months.
Rugby is growing in popularity across Canada, especially among young women and girls, he added. This program is a beacon of inspiration to that next generation of players and we know a strong performance in New Zealand will encourage more Canadians to try our great sport.
In his new role as Head Coach, and following Jack Hanrattys transition to Head Coach of the Canada Womens Sevens squad, Rouet will be flanked by regional coaching staffs for upcoming training camps before finalizing his staffing roster in early April.
Rouets first duties as Head Coach were overseeing check-in camps the past two weekends, with focus now turning to the program in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup:
March 4-6: West Check-In Camp
March 11-13: East Check-In Camp
March 16-21: Overseas Check-In Camp
April 7-17: Red & Black Camp Top 40
May (dates TBD): Assemble prior to departure for Pacific Four tournament
July 16-24: Red & Black Camp
August 17-28: Red & Black Camp
September (dates TBD): Assemble for Rugby World Cup departure (Vancouver)
These plans will include up to six possible test matches away and in Canada prior to departure for the Rugby World Cup with opponents and venues to be announced.
Fiorino, who remains a valued Rugby Canada employee, will officially leave the organization at the end of March. This departure aligns with the conclusion of the season for the Rugby Canada Development Academy in Ontario where he serves as lead, which Rugby Canada has made the difficult decision to discontinue following a reduction in funding.
Sandro has been with Rugby Canada for over a decade in a number of roles and has been a significant contributor during his time with us, said Jamie Levchuk, Interim CEO of Rugby Canada. We thank Sandro for his contributions over the years. He will be missed and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Womens Rugby Programs
Rugby Canada will continue to operate a fully-centralized Sevens program and the Maple Leaf Academy Program in Langford to support up-and-coming female players who aspire to be selected for Canadas Womens Sevens team, the 2022 Commonwealth Games and to compete on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Meanwhile, World Rugby has confirmed their commitment to funding Womens rugby globally, including the previously announced 16-team, three-tier Womens global competition WXV set to begin in 2023. This competition is part of growing the profile, fanbase and commercial revenue of the Womens game and generating opportunities for Womens rugby through the new Women in Rugby commercial programme.
Rugby Canada will continue to work with World Rugby for investment opportunities to grow and advance the womens game in Canada.
Sandro Fiorino is out as head coach of the Canadian women’s rugby team, replaced by assistant coach Kevin Rouet.
The move comes less than seven months before Canada, currently ranked fourth in the world, is scheduled to begin play at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Fiorino, who Rugby Canada described as a “valued” employee, will leave at the end of the month after 11 years with the organization, including four in charge of the women’s 15s team. Rouet spent the last four years as his assistant coach.
“This departure aligns with the conclusion of the season for the Rugby Canada Development Academy in Ontario where he serves as lead, which Rugby Canada has made the difficult decision to discontinue following a reduction in funding,” Rugby Canada said in a statement Tuesday.
Jamie Levchuk, Rugby Canada’s interim CEO, said the closing of the Ontario academy at the end of the month is related to its Own The Podium funding.
“Sandro did have a dual role here at Rugby Canada and the majority of his role was attached to the academy in Ontario,” Levchuk said in an interview. “And that was going to be discontinuing. And then there was also obviously continual evaluation of the team and it was just felt that a change was the best option for the team.
“It was difficult timing but with Kevin having experience with the team, we felt that there was continuity there.”
Levchuk said the organization looked at options for Fiorino to stay “but ultimately Sandro decided to go and pursue other endeavours.”
“We think really highly of Sandro, both as coach and a person,” he added.
Fiorino did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.
Rugby Canada said it will continue to operate both the centralized sevens program and the Maple Leaf Academy program in Langford to help develop women’s talent.
Fiorino was named interim women’s coach in November 2017 when Francois Ratier left to become head coach of Rugby Canadas national 15s academy.
Fiorino’s job was made permanent in May 2018. He retained his head coaching responsibilities with the Canada Sevens Academy, charged with identifying and nurturing next-generation talent.
Fiorino had also served as assistant coach with the womens sevens squad, helping then-head coach John Tait and the team win a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He also served as head coach of the womens under-20 side.
Rouet’s contract takes him through the Rugby World Cup, originally scheduled for last year but delayed until this October due to the pandemic.
We have the quality to achieve a podium finish at the Rugby World Cup and that will be our primary aim as our preparations continue over the coming months, Rouet said in a statement.
Rugby is growing in popularity across Canada, especially among young women and girls, he added. This program is a beacon of inspiration to that next generation of players and we know a strong performance in New Zealand will encourage more Canadians to try our great sport.
Levchuk said Rouet will take a leave of absence from his role as head coach of the Laval University women’s team which he led to the U-Sports title in 2019 and a bronze medal in 2021 while coaching Canada.
Rouet has also coached Rugby Quebecs provincial womens program and served as an assistant coach at Stade Bordelais, a French pro club.
Rugby Canada said Rouet will be assisted by regional coaches for upcoming training camps before finalizing his staff in early April.
The Canadian women are expected to play to six test matches prior to departure for the Rugby World Cup with opponents and venues to be announced later.
With the pandemic playing havoc with the international schedule and money tight, the team has played just four times since November 2019. All four of those matches took place last November with the Canadian women defeating the sixth-ranked U.S. twice 15-9 and 256-13, both in Glendale, Colo. before heading to Britain where they lost 51-12 to top-ranked England and defeated No. 11 Wales 24-7.
Canada opens play at the World Cup on Oct. 9 against No. 12 Japan in Whangarei, before facing No. 8 Italy on Oct. 16 and the U.S. on Oct. 23, with both games in Auckland.