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Just a day removed from the news of Rob Hoadley’s departure from the San Diego Legion, team Chairman Darren Gardner has confirmed that assistant coaches Scott Murray and Zack Test have been promoted and will share the Head Coach duties for the Legion in 2021. The change comes as a surprise after the team posted a perfect 5-0 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 Major League Rugby campaign.
At just 30 years old Test will be the youngest Head Coach in MLR and is just two years removed from formally retiring after suffering a series head injury in 2017. The dual-international made his Eagles Sevens debut in 2009 and was part of the Olympic team in 2016, having played in the Rugby World Cup just a year earlier. Test was part of the initial Legion coaching staff announced in 2018 alongside Hoadley.
Joining the team in 2019, Murray has made a big impression in charge of the forwards. The 44-year-old won 87 caps for Scotland as a lock and toured with the British & Irish Lions in 2001. He began coaching at the end of his professional career with Mont-de-Marsan in 2013. After moving to Los Angeles in 2015 he coached both UCLA and Santa Monica prior to joining the Legion.
Hoadley guided San Diego to a Semi Final spot in 2018 followed by a Championship Final appearance in 2019. It leaves NOLA’s Nate Osborne as the only remaining Head Coach from the inaugural 2018 MLR season. It remains to be seen if Hoadley reappears with another team in 2021.
