Congrats to Michael Englebrecht.
BOULDER, Colo. – Following a recent interviews process conducted by USA Rugby’s CEO and President of Operations Nigel Melville with input from Eddie O’Sullivan (Eagles Head Coach) and Matt Sherman (National Age Grade Director), USA Rugby officially announced its coach appointments for the USA Men’s Select XV, Men’s Under-20s and Boy’s High School All-Americans.
“I was impressed with the number and quality of applicants,” Melville said. “There was tremendous competition for these places and I look forward to working with all of our high performance teams.”
The staffing of each team will be identical at each level and mirror the work of Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, enabling USA Rugby to produce players with the core skills required to represent the Eagles in the future.
Each team will have a Head Coach, forwards and backs assistant coaches, plus a skills coach and a manager. Each team will be provided with full medical and conditioning support.
“Eddie and I will now be discussing the playing program for each team with the coaches and management, and we look forward to supporting them with the challenges they will undoubtedly face in the months to come,” Melville added. “Having a coach who is keen to work across the whole program is a massive advantage to both the coaches and players.”
The Coaching Appointments are as follows:
Selects XV:
Head Coach: Paul Keeler (Emeryville, Calif.)
Asst.Forwards: Eugene Mountjoy (North Dighton, Mass.)
Asst. Backs: Jason Kelly (Henderson, Nev.)
Skills Coach: Paul Barford (Alpharetta, Ga.)
Manager: TBD
Under-20s:
HC: Ray Lehner (San Leandro, Calif.)
Asst. Forwards: Luke Gross (Boulder, Colo.)
Asst. Backs: Salty Thompson (Tempe, Ariz.)
Skills Coach: Jason Payne (Clarksville, Tenn.)
Manager: Craig Brown (Bellingham, Wash.)
High School All-Americans:
Head Coach: Scott Lawrence (Atlanta, Ga.)
Asst. Forwards: David LeFlamme (Warwick, R.I.)
Asst. Backs: Michael Engelbrecht (Roanoke, Texas)
Skills Coach: Damian Dowling (Brighton, Mass.)
Manager: Justin Hickey (Grand Rapids, Mich.)