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Mark Anscombe is no longer Head Coach of Canada’s Senior Men’s team. The news was confirmed today by Rugby Canada that the 60-year-old New Zealander would not be continuing in the role he has held since being appointed in March of last year.
In the 15 months since Canada was won just two of 15 matches including suffering record defeats to Uruguay, Brazil, Romania, and most recently the USA, dropping to an all-time low of 23 on the official World Rugby Rankings. Most pressingly Canada failed to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in the America 1 series against the US Eagles last month, the first time Canada has not achieved that target in the modern qualifying process.
The news comes following a review of Anscombe’s position two weeks ago. Jim Dixon, General Manager of Rugby Operations, thanked the departing coach for his time in a statement.
“On behalf of everyone at Rugby Canada, I would like to thank Mark for his commitment to the organization and the program. We wish him every success in the future.
“It is very apparent to all in the Canadian Rugby community that in order for our Men’s Fifteens Team to be a successful and respected program we must continue to drive a culture of excellence, commitment and discipline. This goes for every level of the game.
“As a collective community we must address the gaps in our system and strive to provide our young players with the best possible environment to excel in the game, and we have a lot of work to do in this regard. I am 100% confident the National Senior Men’s Fifteens program staff, and most importantly the players, will respond to the challenge in front of them. The program will recommence in September with new resources in place to support them.”
With Canada due to play in the Americas Pacific Challenge in October and the Americas 2 qualifying series against Uruguay starting in January, time is not on Canada’s side and a new appointment should be expected in the coming weeks. Rugby Canada will release details of the review process tomorrow.
