Mike Friday

Mike Friday (born 25 April 1972) has been the head coach of the United States national rugby sevens team since summer 2014. Friday was appointed head coach after the U.S. coach for the 2013–14 season, Matt Hawkins, was asked to resign following the U.S. team's poor performance in the 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series.

Mike Friday
Date of birth (1972-04-25) April 25, 1972
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb; 12 st 4 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)

London Wasps
Blackheath FC
London Wasps
1997–2000
Harlequins
2000–2001

London Wasps
2001–2002
 ()
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
England
Teams coached
Years Team
2004–2006
2012–2013
2014–
2014–2015		 England 7s
Kenya 7s
USA 7s
London Scottish

Friday had previously served as head coach for the national rugby sevens teams of England from 2004 to 2006, and Kenya from 2012 to 2013.

Playing career

Friday was born in Chichester, England. Friday played professional rugby. He played 15s for various teams, including the London Wasps and Harlequins, and in 7s he captained the England national sevens team.[1] Whilst at Wasps he helped them win the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 1999 and 2000; he was a replacement in both finals.[2][3]

England (2004–06)

Friday is the former head coach of the England national rugby sevens team. He was named to the position near the end of the 2003/2004 season, after serving for three years as assistant to Joe Lydon.[4] He resigned from the role at the end of 2006 to take up a business role in the City of London.

In June 2010 Friday announced his involvement in RuckingBall.com, an online community for the development of school-boy rugby, coaches and parents.

Kenya (2012–13)

Mike Friday was appointed as coach of the Kenya national rugby sevens team on 25 May 2012 by the Kenya Rugby Football Union.[5] He led the Kenya 7s team to one of its best performances in Wellington New Zealand, on 2 February 2013, to the final versus England which Kenya lost 19-24 during extra time. Friday also led Kenya to a 5th-place finish in the 2013 London Sevens. Friday led the Kenyan sevens team to a series high of 99 points in the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series.

Friday was reportedly fired by the Director of National Squads and Elite Performance, Philip Jalang'o, barely a day after the end of the 2012–13 season. This decision was however denied by the chair of the Kenya Rugby Union Mwangi Muthee, with Philip Jalang'o losing his job as a result.[5]

United States (2014–present)

Friday was appointed head coach of the United States national sevens team by USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville in July 2014. (Melville was Friday's coach when Friday played at London Wasps).

Initially Friday concurrently retained his role as director of rugby for the England-based London Scottish professional rugby team.[1] As of May 14, 2015 it was announced that Friday was leaving the London Scottish role.[6]

Coaching results

The following table shows the results of national teams coached by Mike Friday in the World Rugby Sevens Series.

SeasonTeamFinish
2004–05 England3rd
2005–06 England2nd
2012–13 Kenya5th
2014–15 United States6th
2015–16 United States6th
2016–17 United States5th
2017–18 United States6th
2018–19 United States2nd
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References
  1. "Friday appointed Men's Eagles Sevens head coach" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, USA Rugby, 18 July 2014.
  2. "Wasps win Cup at last". BBC. 16 May 1999. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  3. "Wasps deny Saints cup double". BBC. 13 May 2000. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-11-08. Retrieved 2006-07-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Daily Nation - Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports | HOME". nation.co.ke. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  6. "Mike Friday Leaving London Scottish" This is American Rugby
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