Scott Lawrence, Richard Ashfield Named Interim Eagles Head Coaches
Scott Lawrence, Richard Ashfield Named Interim Eagles Head Coaches
USA Rugby has announced that the organization has appointed two interim Head Coaches for the two senior 15-a-side national teams.
Scott Lawrence is now the Interim Head Coach for the USA Men's Team, and Rich Ashfield is the Interim Head Coach for the USA Men's Team.
Lawrence, meanwhile, is also Interim General Manager of Men's 15s High Performance, replacing Dan Payne.
Just before the new year, the USA Rugby Board of Directors initiated a full review of USA Rugby High Performance programs. That review is still ongoing and will include discussions and meetings with a variety of stakeholders. A search for full-time Head Coaches will begin after the review is completed, however, it was determined that interim coaches needed to be put in place now.
Rob Cain's contract as the Women's Head Coach was not renewed and he announced that he is moving on and would not reapply.
Cain Won't Return to Coach Eagle Women
Gary Gold stepped down from his position as Men's Head Coach in December.
Gary Gold Stepping Down as USA Men's 15s Head Coach
Quick Turnaround
The Women's 15s team is expected to be in a series of games in March, and so the need to have a coach running the program was pretty urgent. For the Men, they won't play until the summer, however there is a ton of planning to be done.
“We understand and fully appreciate the turning point USA Rugby is currently navigating, whereby appointing two well-experienced individuals like Scott and Richard is a crucial next step in this rebuilding phase," said USA Rugby CEO Ross Young. "As the High Performance review process continues, both Scott and Richard will help build responsibility structures and expectations for the USA head coaching roles going forward. Both will be included during candidate evaluations for the full-time positions.”
Capped as USA Men’s Eagle #364, Lawrence is highly familiar with all levels of the Men’s Eagles program. He coached the USA Men's U20s in 2011 and 2012, leading them to winning the World Rugby Trophy in 2012. At Life University, Lawrence led the powerhouse program as Head Coach and Director of Rugby for over 15 years, where, interestingly, he was succeeded by Payne.
Lawrence served as both Head Coach and General Manager at Rugby ATL in Major League Rugby and he has been on the USA 15s MNT coaching staff.
With the Men’s Eagles not playing in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Lawrence has a bit more time to plan and take on those General Manager duties. Payne will conitnue to work with Lawrence on special projects under Lawrence.
“The American spirit is alive and well in our rugby community and the way forward to the next two Rugby World Cups lies within that community," said Lawrence. "Although this role is interim, the actions we take will be focused on the first 8 months of a 5-year World Cup cycle and we’ll stay firmly fixed on creating an unbroken chain from past to present, to the next great Eagles who will move us toward 2027 and beyond. I’m looking forward to working closely with Kyle Sumison, Brendan Keane, and Dan Payne among others to bring our pathways into alignment over the identity of our Men’s XVs national teams, while developing a methodology to deliver it.”
Richard Ashfield assumes the interim role after multiple years as Assistant Coach with the Women’s Eagles, first joining the program in 2013. Well established in the Collegiate and Senior Club game, Ashfield helped Stanford and Beantown RFC of the Women’s Premier League to multiple playoff appearances over the last decade. A player development expert, Ashfield takes the reins from former Head Coach Rob Cain with Women’s Eagles camps and test matches expected this March.
He will need to move quickly to assemble a coaching staff and figure out what players are available and where he can find players to build his depth.
With strong relationships amongst the player and coaching ranks during his tenure, Ashfield will lean in fast as the 2023 season immediately gets underway. More information on upcoming competitions will be communicated when confirmed.
“First of all, I would like to thank Stanford Rugby for their continued support in allowing me to step into this role.," said Ashfield. "I'm excited to support the program through this transition and kick off preparations for Rugby World Cup 2025. My focus will be to support the great pool of seasoned players we have in the mix, while also bringing in some of the very talented young players coming up through the pathway programs. We'll pull these players together in the coming weeks and months to start building a strong foundation for the path to 2025.”
With Rugby World Cup 2025 in the near term, World Rugby will meet with USA Rugby at the beginning half of the year to work on the next phase of “Project Accelerate.” Project Accelerate is a targeted initiative by World Rugby to fast-track the development and performance programs of the women’s game in high potential unions. With the women’s international competition structure laid out through The Pacific Four Series and WXV, along with an expanded HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series slated to being next year, USA Rugby will work with World Rugby to develop specific growth metrics and support for the Women’s fifteens and sevens programs, from grassroots to senior national team, with the goal of future success at the Olympics and Rugby World Cup.
