Andy Friend
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| Full name | Andrew Friend | ||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 24 April 1969 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Canberra, ACT | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Current status | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Head Coach of Australia 7s | ||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Full-back | ||||||||||||
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| Provincial/State sides | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1989–91 | Australian Capital Territory | ||
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1986–87 | Australian Schoolboys | ||
| Coaching career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 2005–08 2008–11 2012–14 2014–16 2016– |
Harlequins Brumbies Canon Eagles Suntory Sungoliath Australia 7s |
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Andrew Friend (born 24 April 1969) is a rugby union coach and former player. He was appointed as head coach of the Australian Sevens team in 2016. Friend was previously head coach of the Brumbies team in Super Rugby. He was also head coach at English club Harlequins, and at Canon Eagles and Suntory Sungoliath in the Japanese Top League.
Friend was selected in the Australia Schoolboys rugby team for 1986–87 before going on to play provincial rugby for the ACT Kookaburras. His position of choice was full-back.
Friend began his coaching career within an Australian Institute of Sport rugby programme in 1995. He held assistant coaching positions at the New South Wales Waratahs and the Brumbies. He was also the former Brumbies skills coach under Eddie Jones.
In the summer of 2005, Friend joined English Premiership team Harlequins as head coach. Following the conclusion of the 2007-08 season, he signed a three-year contract with the Canberra-based Brumbies side.
He took over from Laurie Fisher as head coach at the Super Rugby club. After completing two full seasons in charge, Friend has his contract terminated in March 2011 following a loss to the Melbourne Rebels and rumours of player discontent. He was the third coach to either be fired or not have their contract renewed by the ACT Brumbies board. After helping out as a trainer for various Canberra high school teams, Friend went to Japan in 2012 and became the head coach at Canon Eagles for two seasons. He was head coach of Suntory Sungoliath from 2014 to 2016.
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