Bizarre twist as Canterbury reveal head coach position will be shared
In an unorthodox move, Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) has announced the appointment of co-coaches to lead the Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup side from 2020.
Current assistants Reuben Thorne and Mark Brown will share the Head Coach position vacated by Joe Maddock at the end of the 2019 campaign.
“We are thrilled to appoint Reuben and Mark to lead our Mitre 10 Cup programme,” Canterbury Rugby CEO Tony Smail said.
“We were fortunate to have a number of quality applicants, but Reuben and Mark stood out with their vision for the role, their combined skill set and the valuable cohesion they offer as existing members of the coaching group.
“While the CRFU didn’t embark on this recruitment process with a particular coaching structure in mind, Reuben and Mark’s joint application was compelling, and we believe their combined leadership qualities will be hugely beneficial through the next provincial season and beyond.
“Now that we have confirmed the coaches who will lead our programme, we’re excited to work with them as they structure the remainder of their coaching team in preparation for the 2020 campaign,” Mr Smail said.
Reuben Thorne represented Canterbury 71 times between 1996-2011, including as a member of the national title winning sides in 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2011. He captained both the Crusaders and the All Blacks during his career, leading the Crusaders through their unbeaten Super Rugby season in 2002, and captaining the All Blacks to 20 wins in 23 matches.
As New Zealand grows ever closer to finding out who will be the next All Blacks coach, broadcaster Scotty Stevenson revealed a stat that lays heavily in favour of hopeful Scott Robertson.https://t.co/v9rdX97rXO
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 9, 2019
Thorne’s transition to coaching included a senior rugby role with High School Old Boys in 2011 and 2012, and time as Technical Advisor with Honda Rugby in Japan. He has assisted in a number of position-specific coaching roles with the Crusaders and Canterbury sides, and has been Forwards Coach with the Mitre 10 Cup side since 2018.
“This provincial union means a lot to me, and to be given the opportunity to step up to the role of Head Coach is an honour,” Thorne said.
“Consistency and cohesion in our group is important, and Mark and I are really aligned on our direction for the Mitre 10 Cup programme moving forward. We’ve coached together for a few years now so we know we collaborate well, and we were fortunate to learn a lot from Joe Maddock during his tenure as Head Coach, which was beneficial for the both of us. I’m looking forward to what is an exciting new challenge.”
There’s another Kiwi coach in west Wales and he’s proving a big hit with the fans, @rhigarthjones looks at the reasons why Brad Mooar is so popular at Scarlets.https://t.co/qKuNJcLxcG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 9, 2019
Mark Brown joined the Canterbury coaching group in 2017 as Assistant Forwards Coach, but prior to that he spent four years in charge of the successful Canterbury Under 19 squad. Brown coached the side to two Semi Finals and two Finals in the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 tournament, including a Premiership title during the 2015 season. In 2018, he took over from Joe Maddock as Head Coach of the Crusaders Knights Development team.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1203977720771891201
Brown added: “The experience I’ve gained in this environment over the past few years has been invaluable, and it’s a privilege to be asked to lead a side that has such a proud history. There is a massive challenge ahead of us – provincial rugby gets more and more competitive every year – but it’s something Reuben and I will embrace and look forward to as planning for our 2020 campaign takes shape. For me personally, this is a fantastic opportunity to take the next step in my coaching career with a Canterbury side I’m incredibly proud to represent.”
The appointment of assistant coaches for the Canterbury Mitre 10 Cup side will be announced in due course.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments