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Eight recommendations, to be implemented at the Rugby sa国际传媒 Centre of Excellence in Langford, have come out of a review following sa国际传媒鈥檚 decisive World Cup qualifying loss to the U.S. in June that ended up costing head coach Mark Anscombe his job this week.
Among them is to get mental, as well as physical, with a recommendation to hire a sports psychologist. The other seven recommendations also have to do with adding various support services to the centralized men鈥檚 XVs program in Langford.
They include hiring more technical staff, a high-performance director and a full-time national B team coach.
The search is on for a new head coach for when sa国际传媒 meets Uruguay in the two-game, total points Americas regional repechage in February for a berth in the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
That was necessitated by the decisive and sobering 80-44 loss to the United States in June in the two-game, total-point North American qualifier for the World Cup that shocked Canadian rugby. The men鈥檚 XVs team has spiralled from being ranked No. 12 in the world in 2011 to its present No. 23.
Changes made in midstream can smack of desperation, but Rugby sa国际传媒 rationalized its decision to can Anscombe, the Kiwi who was hired in April 2016 and contracted through to the 2019 World Cup.
鈥淚t was not a decision taken lightly,鈥� said Jim Dixon, general manager of rugby operations and performance for Rugby sa国际传媒.
鈥淲e are very conscious of the timing,鈥� he added, in a teleconference with sports journalists on Friday.
Those championing Anscombe were left to defend his lowly 2-11-1 Test record.
Dixon noted that sevens has become a force in the sport because of its Olympic inclusion. The Langford-based Canadian women won bronze at Rio 2016 with the Canadian men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 sevens teams again to be seen in 2018 at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. But Dixon added: 鈥淴Vs remains the heart of the game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a complicated journey,鈥� he said of modern rugby.
In the professional world of XVs, sa国际传媒 is a mere amateur rugby nation.
鈥淔rom domestic to international play is a huge jump,鈥� Dixon said.
鈥淭hat gap is a real challenge to overcome. We need our players to be playing in a pro and high-performance environment.鈥�
