Roques added as assistant coach for USA Women’s Eagles Sevens

Ahead of the 2025/26 HSBC SVNS season getting underway Tony Roques has joined the USA Women’s Eagles Sevens as an assistant coach.

The 47-year-old was most recently head coach of Great Britain’s Men’s Sevens side. In 2021 he led Great Britain to a fourth-place finish at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Roques has been associated with rugby sevens for since his playing days and has previously serves as an assistant coach for the Men’s Eagles Sevens.

Over the years Roques has also coached Team England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in England and Great Britain at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

In 2023 the former Saracens and Cornish Pirates flanker was part of the England coaching staff at the Rugby World Cup in France as a specialist contact and skills coach.

In addition to Roques, USA Rugby have also announced that Charlie Purdon has Technical & Individual Development Plan Skills Coach and 2016 Olympian, Ben Pinkelman, has been named as a Support Coach.

For the season opener in Dubai, Eagles Women’s Sevens head coach Emilie Bydwell has named three debutants in her squad and have been named in Pool A with Fiji, France and New Zealand.

“As we enter the ‘framing year’ of our LA Olympic squad, our focus is clear: execute an effective, adaptive and innovative game model that maximises our unique strengths and positions us to win the future game,” Bydwell said.

“The 2025 season gave us a deeper understanding of the player group we’ll take to LA, along with valuable insight into how the global game continues to evolve.

“2026 becomes the year we define our identity and establish our competitive advantages, cementing our shared purpose and values, and embedding the antifragility required to unite and perform under pressure.

“With the additional financial support of the Michelle Kang donation, we’ve been able to bolster our staff with expertise that will elevate each athlete within the environment and, in turn, strengthen the team as a whole.

“This is a critical step in ensuring we are building a system and a culture capable of delivering not only sustained success, but a repeat podium performance at our home Olympic Games in 2028.

“Building the right staff framework for this phase of the squad was a central priority, ensuring the program has the specialist insight, technical detail and daily coaching depth required to accelerate both team and individual growth.

“The expanded structure gives athletes increased access to coaches with distinct expertise and fresh perspectives that will elevate our daily training environment and long-term development.”