Sad news comes from the USA: they are still hunting for a head coach. Rob Cain handed in his notice last January; his place was taken by Richard Ashfield as an interim appointment. He had been assistant to the national team since 2014, so was highly experienced.
Winter turned to spring, spring to high summer, and now USA Rugby has put out a formal request for applications.
We can imagine two reasons: first, they had not received applications which they deemed adequate; second, they had not received any applications.
When Cain gave the job up, it was easy to imagine he reckoned he had gone as far as he could. He had travelled endless miles in the cause, visiting clubs and associations to assess current standards and seek out players worthy of being called up for high-level performance sessions.
His efforts cannot be said to have produced results.
His resignation helped to explain the decision of his predecessor, Emilie Bydwell, to switch from the national post to head of the Sevens division. For all the Eagles’ success in the world of 7s, that had seemed a strange career move. The latest request from USA Rugby silently reveals the true nature of the case.
America is in a very similar position to Canada and Australia: these three vast nations mean that linking up at club, regional and national level is time-consuming and expensive. While Rugby Australia opted decisively for the 7s game, Rugby Canada has tried to steer a middle course, encumbered by serious accusations of inappropriate behaviour leading to changes of staff. Currently, the 15s squad are performing far better than their 7s sisters.
In recent times USA Rugby has made a concerted effort to raise its profile at 15s level, but their failure to reach WXV1 is a sign of continued shortcomings. They finished the Pacific-4 series as the back markers.
That may well have decided the union against advancing Ashfield from his interim post to the top job. On the other hand, he may well have come to a similar decison to Cain’s. He has a career to attend to beyond rugby.
The successful candidate has to be willing to reside in the States and give full attention to a myriad of concerns. The application request lists twenty-one ‘Essential Duties and Responsibilities’ ; three ‘Skills and attributes’; four ‘Desired Outcomes’, starting with creating a winning team; and there will be five ‘Supervisory Responsibilities’ – quite a menu.
Since the immediate target is the WXV – in the Eagles’ case, WXV2 – that person would have only a couple of months to set a new house in order.
It may be a slight help that the many players attached to English clubs in the Premier 15s (now the PWR), won’t have matches till after the first iteration of the WXV. But it’s hard establishing a unified squad when some of its most important members are 3,000 miles away from home.
When we see a nation as wealthy and well provided as the USA in the toils, we realise the challenges that face World Rugby in trying to promote the game in less affluent corners of the globe.
