Ben Ryan Wants to Coach Fifteens

I want to be a head coach in both codes – in fifteens there is a bit of a black mark against your name with Sevens – I have no idea why. I am the most successful British coach ever in any team sport at the moment and I would love to have a crack at fifteens, but this train that Sevens is on is getting faster, we have now had an Olympic cycle.

It's a fair too say that we talk a lot about players transitioning between sevens and fifteens but not a lot about coaches.

In Ben Ryan, Mike Friday and Simon Amor, England have three leading sevens coaches all still under 45. Former international sevens players like Phil Greening (USA performance), Chris Cracknell (Fiji women), Ben Gollings (China) and Mat Turner (Sri Lanka) have moved into coaching.

There's only one England Sevens head coach role, and no regular club positions, so players are picking up jobs with other countries, as well as running coaching consultancies like Next Generation Sevens.

The only guy I can think of who the RFU promoted from Sevens coaching is Joe Lydon, who was backs coach under Andy Robinson for a spell. He then had a few jobs - including with the WRU - and is now back at the RFU running International Player Development.

I'm not sure someone like Ryan would immediately suit a top role with an English club. Rugby hasn't quite got the hang of the idea that professional sport needs both a General Manager and a Head Coach, so the lines between those jobs get very blurred, especially in the Championship. Ryan might be suited to handling contract negotiations and budgets, but his immediate skills are coaching.

Would he take a backs/skills/attack coach role?

Does he have a defense and attack coach in 7's or does he do all that himself? If he does then he could potentially bring some interesting insights and a very different perspective to players roles, and individual skills/mindset.

Could coach a championship side otherwise or start at a clubs A side?

Fiji have been struggling a bit at 15's (mainly due to players being taken by other countries or making themselves unavailable) as have Tonga and Samoa. He is a hero in Fiji so could he take that job and maybe look towards also doing a Pacific Islands tour (a Lions equivalent)?

Hazel Sapling wrote:Fiji have been struggling a bit at 15's (mainly due to players being taken by other countries or making themselves unavailable) as have Tonga and Samoa. He is a hero in Fiji so could he take that job and maybe look towards also doing a Pacific Islands tour (a Lions equivalent)?

He obviously has done a great job with Fiji but I got the feeling he's done his time with pacific teams. If I remember right at one point he went months without being paid.

lostinwales wrote:

Hazel Sapling wrote:Fiji have been struggling a bit at 15's (mainly due to players being taken by other countries or making themselves unavailable) as have Tonga and Samoa. He is a hero in Fiji so could he take that job and maybe look towards also doing a Pacific Islands tour (a Lions equivalent)?

He obviously has done a great job with Fiji but I got the feeling he's done his time with pacific teams. If I remember right at one point he went months without being paid.

That was back in 2012 though wasn't it? Also thinking about the opportunities available in 15's if he wants to go straight into a head coach role. Maybe a team like Worcester or the Sunwolves are the sorts available. Maybe Edinburgh next season. The Bath's and Toulouse's of this world are beyond him until he is proven at the 15's level. Heck even the Bordeaux's, La Rochelle's and Quin like sides may be a step too far.

He'd be better off starting with Fiji 15s. He knows the culture, he's got it to work for him previously and the tactics he brought to the Fiji sevens could translate (with some work). The PI teams have been plagued with management that has alienated itself from the players (mainly Samoa). Ryan is popular enough to unite the union and the players and make Fiji a force.

Depends whether he likes the country and wants to stay. It'd be the fastest way into a good club job, otherwise he's only probably going to get an assistant role or a youth team position.

Ryan has been given 3 acres of land in Fiji, and a tribal title.

https://twitter.com/Fiji7sTeam/status/770109031864233984

There's also talk of him and his wife being offered citizenship, which would mean his wife could work in Fiji, if he decides to stay there for his next career move.

http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/17420407/ben-ryan-given-land-mountain-waterfalls-fiji