Portugal add former Sakura Fifteen boss to coaching staff ahead of Nations Cup

Lesley McKenzie has joined Rugby World Cup-bound Portugal after six years in charge of the Sakura Fifteen.

The 25-cap Canada international has joined Simon Mannix’s Portugal coaching staff as a contact coach focusing on the breakdown, winning collisions and tackle technique. In November, Os Lobos will play World Rugby Nations Cup fixtures against Chile, Samoa and Uruguay in Lisbon.

At Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, McKenzie’s Japan exited the tournament after a third-place finish in Pool C before concluding their time in England with a 29-21 victory against Spain in York.

Over nearly two decades, McKenzie has forged a reputation in high-performance rugby as a coach who not only focuses on the individual, but also the collective.

Portugal have been named in Pool D at Rugby World Cup 2027 alongside Ireland, Scotland and Uruguay. They will begin their campaign against Andy Farrell’s Ireland at the Sydney Football Stadium on Monday 4 October.

McKenzie joins an Os Lobos team that secured Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification at the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship with a fourth-place finish. It will be just the third time that Portugal have played at a Rugby World Cup.

Portugal were the surprise package at Rugby World Cup 2023. Named in Pool C, the side which had qualified via the final qualification tournament, drew with Georgia 18-18 and pulled off a shock 24-23 win against Fiji.

McKenzie has also joined Rugby Europe Super Cup side Lusitanos XV – also coached by Mannix – as an assistant coach.

After representing her country at two Women’s Rugby World Cups, McKenzie immediately moved into coaching. She spent five years coaching her alma mater, the UBC Thunderbirds, before spending three years as a development officer for the Wanganui Rugby Football Union in New Zealand.

In 2018 she joined the Japan Women’s Sevens set-up as an assistant coach. Less than a year later, McKenzie was appointed head coach of the Women’s XVs team.

During a six-year tenure with the Sakura Fifteen, the Canadian led Japan at two Women’s Rugby World Cups. In 2022, McKenzie’s team completed an unbeaten two-match tour of Australia.

During their time on the Gold Coast, Japan beat Fiji 28-14 before overcoming the Wallaroos 12-10. It was the first time Japan had beaten a team ranked in World Rugby’s top five.

In a 2019 interview with World Rugby, McKenzie said she felt no extra pressure as a female head coach: “I’m not in the game to be a female head coach. I’m a rugby coach.

“And it may look different to people outside who are looking at relative numbers but I’m doing the same job as anyone else is and people get just as upset when you lose games if you’re a female as they do if you’re male. So, no I think the pressure is just inherent in what the task is.”