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Former England 7s captain appointed Japan head coach

Japan Rugby Sevens team new head coach Simon Amor. Photo: Supplied/​Japan Rugby Football Union.

Former England Rugby Sevens captain Simon Amor has been appointed head coach of the Japan Rugby Sevens team.

“It’s a great honour to be asked to be the head coach of the Japan Men’s Sevens team,” expressed Amor at a press conference held in Japan on 29 September.

https://twitter.com/JRFURugby/status/1575368472892084224/

Amor feels that sevens rugby is a wonderful opportunity for players to develop their game, and to be successful both in national sevens and club rugby. He also looks forward to leading Japan to victory in the next Olympic Games, to be held in Paris 2024.

He said: “It is an incredibly exciting year ahead, and we have a lot of tournaments ahead. This is a great challenge, but it is exactly what we need… To be successful in the Olympics, we need a squad that has an average age of 26 years old, and 30 world series tournament [engagements]. We don’t have experience in the tournaments at the moment, and lots of competition is a great opportunity for us to learn and grow.”

This suggests that Japan will start the season by looking at new tactics and fresh players that the team can use to improve on their current standings to become world-class title contenders.

Amor suggested that he aims to gauge the skill of new players in competition and training, to select players for his team before Christmas. He also aims to engage with coaches at all levels of Japanese rugby, including school, college and club levels, to help spearhead the growth of sevens rugby in the country.

He continued: “As the season progresses, we look to improve and peak at the very end to win the Asian Games and Asian Series. That’s the plan.”

Amor added that he is looking forward to using the experiences he has had coaching Great Britain Sevens and England Sevens working under Eddie Jones, but at the same time is incredibly conscious of the uniqueness of the Japanese culture and the strengths that the nation possesses.

“I have really enjoyed supporting Sakura Sevens on their journey, and they have progressed so well under a wonderful coach.”

During the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Amor’s coaching saw Great Britain grab a much-coveted silver medal, in a 7-43 loss to Fiji who celebrated their first ever Olympic medal win. South Africa, who had been beaten by Great Britain 7-5 in a tight semi-final, won the bronze medal with a 54-14 victory over Japan.

As defence coach for the England National Rugby team, his role helped to ensure England secured the 6 Nations Championship and the Autumn Nations Cup in 2020.

The Kingston-upon-Thames native and St Mary’s University Twickenham alumnus aims to put his plans into action during the 24th annual series of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which kicks off on 4 November 2022.

Author

  • Reuven Blignault

    Reuven is a versatile South African multimedia sports journalist with a passion for all things rugby, cricket, tennis and Motorsport. He has a number of years of experience covering these sports in the African media landscape, and now seeks to expand his career internationally.