Article content

In a year where a great many things have gone badly for the Canadian men’s national team, there’s finally a good piece of news.

Francois Ratier is taking over the men’s centralized program in Victoria.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Francois Ratier moves west to take over Rugby Canada men's centralized program Back to video

Both Americas Rugby News and BC Rugby Newshave reported the story already, credit to them for breaking it.

Until the end of August, Ratier had served as coach of the national women’s team. He led the women to great success in the last two Women’s Rugby World Cups.

He also built a strong rapport with his players, who were very sad to hear him announce he was finishing with the team.

This move might seem a bit of a surprise, but Ratier did leave a clue that it was a possibility. Even before the WRWC, Ratier had been careful in discussing his future, leaving some, including this reporter, to ponder that a switch to the men’s program was possible.

Having Ratier take over as the lead men’s development coach is as good an outcome as Rugby Canada could have hoped for. Last year, the 20 or so players who were centralized in Langford were sorely lacking for leadership, as national coach Mark Anscombe wasn’t involved in the program, despite suggestions at the time of his hiring that he would be.