Crowley signs 2 year extension

National senior men’s head coach Kieran Crowley has signed a two year contract extension with Rugby Canada following an internal review of the World Cup program. The review committee acknowledged that the program had not met expectations in terms of win-loss results, but determined that progress had been made during the last World Cup cycle, a conclusion supported by a number of performance metrics provided by World Rugby. Approval for the contract offer was based on a unanimous decision by the review committee that included:

– Jim Dixon (committee chair), Rugby Canada General Manager
– Pat Aldous, Rugby Canada Chairman
– Rick Bourne, NACRA Representative
– Peter Horne, World Rugby High Performance Manager
– Mike James, 4-time World Cup Team member
– Dr. Mark Lawson, Rugby Canada Player Representative
– Mark Lemmon, Rugby Canada Interim CEO
– Dr. Pat Parfrey, Former Senior Men’s Head Coach, World Rugby Council Member
– Gord Sneddon, CRC Chairman

The committee also determined that systemic changes were required in order to help facilitate progress, and the extension is contingent on a number of stipulations:

– the senior men’s XVs program will now be run entirely independent of the 7s program;
– a ‘daily training environment’ that provides sufficient preparation for fixtures;
– the appointment of a Canadian ‘pathway coach’ as an assistant, with a goal of having a Canadian coach in place for the 2023 World cup cycle;
– greater consideration of the CRC as a player pathway;
– regular communication between Rugby Canada and the provincial/CRC teams;
– improved talent identification system;
– the elimination of pay-to-play across all national team programs.

Crowley’s took over the job from Ric Suggitt following the 2007 World Cup. Since his appointment, Canada has played 57 test matches, winning 24 and drawing one. The new contract will run until August 2017, the projected date of the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers.

EDIT: Crowley signed his contract hours after the original posting. A media conference is scheduled for Wednesday, December 23. More information to follow.