Canadian rugby coach Ric Suggitt will have to reapply for his job if he wants to keep it — and beat out anyone else who throws their hat in the ring.
With Suggitt's contract expiring at the end of the year, Rugby Canada announced Friday that the men's head coaching position is "currently under review." Rugby Canada plans to post the opening for the job on its website next week.
While saying Suggitt "has really brought this team forward," a Rugby Canada release also said a review of the recent World Cup performance "indicated some changes were necessary."
"We've asked him (Suggitt) to reapply but we've also made it clear to him that we'll also be advertising for this post and we'll be looking at candidates outside as well," Geraint John, Rugby Canada's high-performance director, said in an interview.
John said he expected Suggitt, who is currently on vacation, would "probably" reapply.
The posting calls for the coach to be based out of Victoria, where Canada's domestic carded players train. Suggitt spent time in Victoria but lived in Edmonton.
John said Canada took advice from the International Rugby Board and other governing bodies on the coaching situation, saying other countries had taken a similar approach.
"I think the opportunity to coach a national side, that is something a lot of people would want to apply for," John said when asked if Rugby Canada had the funds to attract a good crop of candidates.
Rugby Canada also announced it is creating the new role of men's team general manager, a position that will include a say in selection. A new skills coach, working with both the men's and women's teams, will also be hired.
Assistant coach John Tait will retain his position, John said.
The decision to open a coaching search was made after Rugby Canada's annual general meeting last weekend — and following a review of the recent World Cup and the national team's play in recent months.
Under Suggitt, Canada went 0-3-1 at the Rugby World Cup in France and exited after the first round.
But the record perhaps does not tell the whole story. The Canadians led Wales 17-9 after 45 minutes of their tournament opener but let the Welsh back in the game and lost 42-17.
Down 22-16 in the final minute against Fiji, Canada coughed the ball up a metre from the Fijian goal-line. A Fijian ran the ball the length of the field to complete a 29-16 win. A disallowed Canadian try in the 72nd minute didn't help matters.
Against Japan, Canada led 12-5 only to see the Japanese score a try that was converted with the last kick of the game for a 12-12 draw. The Canadians, already upset over a disallowed Morgan Williams try, thought the whistle should have been blown well before the score.
John said while some criticized the Canadian campaign for lack of results, others pointed to Canada's "near-misses."
"At the end of the first round of the competition, we were the most talked about team in the whole of the tournament," he said.
"I thought there was a lot of positives, but we have to turn those near-misses into victories," he added. "That is our next step and that is our next goal."
In a rugby world that is fully professional at the top, Canada's mix of overseas pros and domestic amateurs has been hard-pressed to make a mark in recent years.
Suggitt, who took over as men's coach in February 2004, has a 10-18-1 record as Canadian coach although not all of those matches had Test status. Six of those wins were over the U.S., which is currently ranked five places below No. 14 Canada.
Prior to coaching the Canadian men, Suggitt ran the national women's team and coached the men's sevens side.
Rugby Canada also revamped its board setup at the recent general meeting. In addition to elected members, up to four board members can be appointed.
CEO Graham Brown says the move to more appointed members was made to help introduce business expertise needed on the board
The new board consists of eight people (to be reduced to seven next year, four appointed and elected and three appointed), plus one male and one female players' representative. The final two members are the IRB Council member and CEO, neither of whom has a vote.
President and vice-president have been renamed chairperson and vice-chair.
The new chair is Rick Bourne, president of Langara Fishing Adventures, a chain of luxury eco-tourism fishing lodges in B.C. The vice-chair is lawyer Rick Powers, a Rugby Canada veteran.
The other board members are Jay Johnston (treasurer), Pearse Higgins (secretary), Chris LeFevre (IRB representative), Roger Smith, David Robertson, Mark Slay, Stephanie White, Sheila Turner (female players representative), Jim Douglas (male players representative) and Brown, Rugby Canada's CEO.
Rugby Canada's current annual budget, including that of the Churchill Cup tournament, is about $9 million to $10 million with a $31,000 surplus this year. But it owes just under $900,000 from hosting the women's World Cup last year.
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