Ex-England and GB coach Simon Amor gets new job ahead of World Cup push

Former England attack coach and GB 7s 2016 Olympic Games silver medal-winning coach, Simon Amor, is heading back to Hong Kong in a wide-ranging role.

The well-travelled Amor, who has extensive playing and coaching experience in sevens and 15s, recently stepped down from his position as head coach of the USA men’s sevens team and has already started work as the new executive director of performance and representative rugby for the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union.

Amor, 46, is familiar with the Asian rugby landscape, having worked briefly as Hong Kong’s interim head coach of the senior men’s side during COVID-19 before leaving to become technical director to the Japan Sevens programme.

As an England 7s player, he won the Hong Kong Sevens four times, and he went on to coach his country in both the leading formats of the game, serving as Eddie Jones’ attack coach for 16 months between January 2020 and May 2021.

His appointment comes ahead of the Asia Rugby Men’s Championship, which Hong Kong are favourites to win and qualify for their first-ever Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027. Hong Kong’s bid to make history begins away to the UAE on June 14th.

Amor’s remit will be to ensure everything is in place for Hong Kong to have the best chance of qualifying for that tournament, the women’s iteration two years later, and the next Olympics in 2028.

“I am delighted to be returning to Hong Kong China Rugby at an incredibly exciting time in the organisation’s proud history,” Amor said in a statement released by HKCR.

“I am looking forward to supporting an ambitious and motivated team to drive excellence and alignment across our programmes.”

James Farndon, the governing body’s CEO, said he was delighted to “welcome Simon back to Hong Kong”.

“His breadth of experience spans both sevens and XVs rugby – and strategically across men’s and women’s rugby – meaning he is a very good fit for the position,” Farndon added.