Martin Haag (born 28 July 1968 in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, England) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who principally played for

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

and was capped twice by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In March 2016 he was appointed head coach of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

's Under 20s team.

Playing and coaching career

Bath Rugby

His family having moved to Cornwall when he was four years old, Haag was educated at St Ives School and Penwith Sixth Form College and represented England Schools and Cornwall before joining

in 1987. He established a first team place during the 1990–91 Courage League season, capturing the Bath 'Player of the Year' award at the end of the season. Throughout his career, he achieved a reputation as a Sevens star, playing in Bath's victorious Sevens squad which won the Save & Prosper and the Welsh Snelling Sevens, as well as in Malaysia and elsewhere. Haag won an England B cap against Spain and Ireland B in 1992, and was then selected for the New Zealand tour, winning his third B cap in the second test. A fast player about the field, he was selected for the England 'A's' in 1995/96 and in 1997 for

's tour of Argentina. He won his first full cap in the 46–20 victory over

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on 31 May 1997 and his second, and ultimately final, cap in the 13–33 defeat the following week. Haag started for Bath in the victorious 1998 Heineken Cup Final as they defeated

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglome ...

. He made his 300th appearance for

in the 35–19

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

victory over

Castres Olympique Castres Olympique (, ) is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They pla ...

on 13 January 2001, celebrating the occasion with a try, his 27th for the club. In April 2001, with Haag having lost his place to Mark Gabey and Bath also having the resources of Andy Lloyd,

Steve Borthwick Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the England national team. As a player, he played as a lock for Bath and Saracens. At international level, he ...

and new signing Danny Grewcock to call on, the club announced that his services would not be needed for the 2001–2002 season. In total he played 295 times for

with 9 appearances as a substitute before becoming Youth Academy Coach with the club.

Bristol Rugby

In July 2003 he joined

Bristol Shoguns Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

as first team coach. In 2005 he agreed a three-year extension to his contract.

Return to Bath, the RFU and back to Bath again

After leaving Bristol in 2007 he was assistant coach to the England Under 18 side that toured Australia before returning to

in September 2007 and taking up the post of Academy Forwards Coach. In June 2008 Haag left

to join the

(RFU) and take up a position as a National Academy Coach. The role saw him involved with the coaching of the

U20 team. In June 2009 he returned to

when he succeeded Mark Bakewell as forwards coach to the senior team. Haag left Bath when his contract expired at the end of the 2011–2012 season.

Nottingham

In July 2012 he became head coach at

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

side

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. The team finished second in the

2012–13 RFU Championship The 2012–13 RFU Championship is the fourth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of English domestic rugby union competitions, played between August 2012 and May 2013. After an appeal, last season's c ...

in his first season at the club. He held this position until his appointment as the head coach of the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

's Under 20s team in 2016.

World Rugby Under 20 Championship 2016

Haag was the head coach of the England team that won the 2016

World Rugby Under 20 Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an annual international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's juni ...

hosted in England. The team defeated Ireland in the final.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haag, Martin 1965 births Living people Bath Rugby players Bristol Bears players Cornish Pirates players Cornwall RFU players England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Chelmsford St Ives RFC (Cornwall) players 20th-century English sportsmen