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The Houston SaberCats have a new Director of Rugby. Paul Healy will take over the role as well as that of Head Coach for the 2020 Major League Rugby season, replacing departed Justin Fitzpatrick. Paul Emerick acted as Interim Head Coach to close the season. He will remain on staff as an Assistant Coach.
Healy brings an extensive coaching record that has seen him travel all over the world. The Australian spent time with Stade Français in Paris before joining Los Teros as a Technical Advisor for the 2003 World Cup. He has worked with professional sides in Wales, Romania, Spain, is the former Head Coach of Chile, and High Performance Director of Brazil Rugby.
Most recently Healy was part of Mike Ford’s coaching staff with Germany, serving as an attack coach during the World Cup Repechage in November. Prior to that he had served as the European country’s Director of Rugby from January 2018 until mid-2019.
Houston struggled under Fitzpatrick, winning just 3 of 19 regular season matches during his tenure. Emerick steered the team to four straight victories to end their campaign after losing his first match in charge in New York.
While the length of the deal has not been released, SaberCats President JT Onyett indicated that it was a multi-year deal in an official statement.
“Paul brings years of rugby expertise and international experience that will help the SaberCats as we move to the future. Many high-quality coaches applied for this job and Paul stood out amongst the rest. We look forward to Paul leading the team for years to come at AVEVA Stadium.
“We thank Paul Emerick for the great job he did leading us at the end of the season. He will continue to play an important role as we prepare for the upcoming season.”
A 2016 interview with Healy following his departure from Chile can be read here. He was a guest on the ARN Podcast in November.
