There appears nothing more volatile or uncertain in sports than coaching a Canadian national team, even ones on the rise. Jack Hanratty will join the likes of basketball’s Nick Nurse and soccer’s John Herdman, who have left prominent Team Canada head coaching positions, when he departs the Canadian women’s rugby sevens team following the Paris Olympics this summer.
Hanratty, based in Langford at the Rugby Canada headquarters, will be leaving to coach the University of Ottawa Gee Gees women’s rugby program in U Sports beginning in 2025.
Hanratty guided Canada to a successful advancement to the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning the North American and Caribbean qualifying tournament last August at Starlight Stadium with a straight-ahead North-South style.
Canada won bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics under head coach John Tait, but that was followed by a period of program turmoil with Tait leaving, leading to a massively underachieving ninth-place finish in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hanratty, introducing 22 new players to the national side post-Tokyo, has brought the team back to relevance. He has Canada ranked in the top five in the HSBC World Sevens Series standings and back into the conversation mix regarding a potential podium this summer in Paris.
“This has been one the most rewarding and challenging roles I have ever had,” said Hanratty, in a statement.
“I am tremendously proud of how much the team has developed. Working with such quality staff and these world-class players is something I feel very fortunate about,” added the native of Skerries, Ireland.
“We are looking forward to the final rounds of the HSBC SVNS Series [in Hong Kong next month and in Singapore in May], and then all eyes on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.”
Hanratty was named interim Canada head coach in October of 2021 and was elevated to the permanent position in August of 2022. He guided Canada to the semifinals and bronze-medal final of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and to the silver medal in the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games.
“Jack and the team remain highly focused on preparing and proudly representing Canada on the World Rugby SVNS Series and at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer,” said Rugby Canada high-performance director Stephen Aboud.
Hanratty said he sees his new position in U Sports as an extension of “continuing growing women’s rugby in Canada.”
