With files from Matt Tidcombe, Rugby Canada Communications

Rugby Canada announced Andrew Hall as Canada’s Maple Leafs men’s sevens head coach today.

A New Zealand native, Hall is the Ontario Blues Senior Men’s Sevens head coach. Furthermore, he is a Rugby Canada National Sevens Scout and coach of the Canadian Misfits Sevens.  He was previously Rugby Ontario’s Technical Director from 2010-2013 as well as Community Development Manager (2008-2009) and Referee Development Manager (2009-2010). He is also currently Rugby Canada’s High Performance Coach of Match Officials.

“I am extremely excited and humbled by the opportunity to help identify and develop the next generation of Olympic and World Series talent in Canada,” Hall said. “It is a great chance to learn from the high caliber coaches in Damian and Lee to whom I am grateful to for the opportunity. I am looking forward to collaborating with the Canadian rugby community once again to cast the net far and wide to build a depth chart of Canadian players who can challenge and beat the world’s best.” 

2017 is shaping up to be a busy year for Canada’s Maple Leafs with a South American tour where they’ll play in the Punta del Este in Uruguay (Jan 6-7) and Vina del Mar in Chile (Jan 14-15). The team will also in an invitational tournament March 9-10 ahead of the Canada Sevens as well as summer invitationals in June and July. They’ll also play in the Serevitown Sevens in Colorado August 26-28.

“There were a number of quality applicants for the position and unfortunately we couldn’t hire them all,” said Sean Liebich, Canada’s men’s sevens program manager. “The future of coaching in Canada looks bright and we are excited to have Andrew joining us to kick off 2017.”