Argentina great Juan Imhoff lands unexpected international head coaching gig

Former Los Pumas wing Juan Imhoff has landed his first international coaching job following his retirement from professional rugby in 2024.

The 37-year-old – who competed at four Rugby World Cups for Argentine and scored 17 tries in 43 appearances for his country – has been appointed head coach of the Morocco Men’s Sevens national team.

Since his retirement Imhoff has worked as a pundit on Canal+’s rugby coverage and has worked for his former club Racing 92 – for whom he made 259 appearances for and scored 112 tries in a 13 year stay in Paris – establishing framework in the annual Super Sevens competition that Top 14 clubs participate in.

He also has his own rugby sevens pedigree having competed for Argentina at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro where his team placed sixth overall.

Imhoff’s appointment has come just two months after the union pledged its desire to make a return to the highest level of competition in Africa. At the start of April, the Moroccan city of Oujda will host the Arab Rugby Sevens Championship.

At the end of 2025 the Royal Moroccan Rugby Federation announced that men’s and women’s teams would compete at the U20 African Championships and that a women’s 15-a-side team would compete at the African Championship too. There is also hope that men’s and women’s sides will compete at Rugby Africa Sevens events in 2026.

It is clear that the union harbours big hopes for what the next few years could have in store, with the arrival of Imhoff – along with former Morocco international Nabil Jelti as a technical director of the national sevens team – could be the first domino to fall as they pursue Olympic qualification in 2028.

In their statement the Royal Moroccan Rugby Federation said: “This appointment comes as the national team prepares to participate in upcoming continental competitions, notably the African Rugby Sevens Championship, scheduled for this year in Mauritius.

“Through this decision, the Federation aims to build a competitive national team capable of representing Moroccan rugby with distinction on the African stage and aiming for qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.”

Another step in Morocco’s aim of securing qualification for LA28 will be at Africa Men’s Sevens, which is set to be held on the East Africa island of Mauritius for a third year in a row and where South Africa are current champions.

Morocco’s men are not a complete unknown entity in the world of rugby sevens. The team played at the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong. They also competed at Hong Kong Sevens in 1992, 2002 and 2016. They are also four-time Arab Rugby Sevens champions and won bronze at Africa Men’s Sevens in 2015.