Andrew Friend (born 24 April 1969) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Irish province Connacht. He was previously head coach of the

Australia Sevens The Australia Sevens is an international rugby sevens tournament that was first played in 1986. Currently hosted as the Sydney Sevens, the event is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was held in Brisbane, in Adelaide, and o ...

team, the Brumbies in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, English club Harlequins, and Canon Eagles and Suntory Sungoliath in the Japanese

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

Playing career

Friend was selected in the

Australia Schoolboys The Australian Schoolboys refer to junior teams that represent Australia in various sports. The name is mainly used in rugby league, rugby union and baseball. Other popular team sports in Australia such as cricket, basketball, association footbal ...

rugby team for 1986–87 before going on to play provincial rugby for the ACT Kookaburras. His position of choice was full-back.

Club coaching

Friend began his coaching career within an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

rugby programme in 1995. He held assistant coaching positions at the New South Wales Waratahs and the Brumbies. He was also the Brumbies skills coach under

Eddie Jones Edward, Eddie, or Ed Jones may refer to: Architecture * Edward Vason Jones (1909–1980), American neoclassical architect * Edward Jones (English architect) (born 1939), English architect who designed the Saïd Business School * Edward Jones (Wel ...

. 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

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. Friend was appointed as the head coach of

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side Connacht on a three-year deal in May 2018. Inaugural inductee to

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

Sport Walk of Fame in 2022.

International coaching

Friend guided the Australian Under-21 team to the final of the 2005 World Championships. He worked within the Wallabies setup for the

2002 Tri Nations Series The 2002 Tri Nations Series was contested from 13 July to 17 August between the Australia, New Zealand and South Africa national rugby union teams. The All Blacks won the tournament. South Africa won their first Mandela Challenge Plate in a one- ...

and

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. He was appointed as head coach of the

Australian Sevens The Australia Sevens is an international rugby sevens tournament that was first played in 1986. Currently hosted as the Sydney Sevens, the event is part of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was held in Brisbane, in Adelaide, and ...

team in 2016.

Charity bike ride

Following an accident in 2010 when his wife, Kerri Rawlings, came off her bike and suffered a serious brain injury, Andy Friend undertook a 5000 km journey from Cooktown to Canberra to raise awareness and money for Acquired Brain Injury. This was to support Brain Injury Australia and Outward Bound. The journey was successful, with his wife as part of the support crew, and was completed in late November 2011.

References

External links

Harlequins profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friend, Andy 1969 births Living people Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union coaches Australian Olympic coaches ACT Brumbies coaches Coaches of international rugby sevens teams Connacht Rugby non-playing staff People educated at Canberra Grammar School Rugby union players from Canberra Australian expatriate sportspeople in England University of Canberra alumni