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Geraint John has unexpectedly resigned from his post as Director of Rugby for Australia’s sevens program just 12 months away from the sport’s inclusion in the Olympic Games. Citing family reasons, he will instead return to his home country of Wales, taking up a post with the Welsh Rugby Union as Elite Coach Development Manager.
A native of Carmarthen and former Cardiff Blues coach, John departs Australia only one year into his contract, guiding the men’s side to a 5th place finish on the HSBC Sevens Series, albeit missing out on automatic Olympic qualification. He was previously a long-time member of the Rugby Canada program, arriving as High Performance Director in 2006 before taking the reigns of the men’s sevens team. After achieving an impressive 6th place finish in the 2013-14 season, he announced his move to Australia, with current coach Liam Middleton his replacement.
Current Australia women’s sevens coach Tim Walsh will take over as interim coach of the men’s side until a permanent replacement has been appointed. The men’s program has not yet qualified for the Olympics, but are favorites to do so via the Oceanic qualification tournament to be held on November 15 in Auckland, New Zealand.
