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Francois Ratier moves west to take over Rugby Canada men's centralized program

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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.

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

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

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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.

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One of the clear needs identified by Rugby Canada following the review of this past June’s dismal performance — which also lead to Anscombe’s dismissal — was a strong, stable leader for the centralized group, a coach who understood the on-the-ground challenges of Canadian rugby and who would give the group the focused, professional attention they desperately needed.

He has had success with the men’s team before, as he served as interim head coach in early 2016, after Kieran Crowley resigned from his position to take a coaching job in Italy. Ratier led the Canadian men to a strong third-place finish in the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship; it was especially remarkable given the mass of international inexperience his squad featured.

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Almost certainly, one of Ratier’s most crucial tasks will be building up player self-confidence. The team has had no successes in the last year and a half. There is a tour to South America to come next month, where his players will be feature as the core of the squad. A number will also be involved in the November series, which will see the Canadians host the Maori All Blacks at BC Place, and then a pair of games in Europe.

Then there’s the crucial Rugby World Cup qualifying series in January and February against Uruguay. The winner will get the second Americas sport at the 2019 tournament in Japan.

Ironically enough, what Ratier is being tasked to do is exactly what Anscombe called for after he was dismissed by Rugby Canada.

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“We need to start developing (professional) players,” he told The Province then. “We don’t do that.”

“What are we doing in this country to help the athlete? And the answer is absolutely nothing.”

Anscombe’s comments were an echo of what Crowley had said after his exit in January 2016.

“We haven’t made enough changes to keep up,” Crowley said at the time. “We’ve made a lot of progress, like the Canadian Rugby Championship (CRC), that’s been a massive improvement for player preparation.

“But Georgia and Romania have gone past us. They set up structures to push their top players, to get them together as full timers.”

But in 2017, the CRC became a one-week affair, with the four regions playing a series of games in a short window.

Anscombe called that format “a joke.”

“How can you say we care about the players when they’re asked to play that much in such a short window?”

The format of the CRC will be outside of Ratier’s purview, but how he’s able to shape the development squad in Langford into something approaching what the last two coaches has said is needed will be interesting to watch.

Ratier will be assisted by national team assistant coaches Mike Shelley and Graeme Moffat. Rugby Canada is expected to confirm the news in the coming days.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

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