Mike Tolkin is a

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 ...

coach who served as head coach of the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

from 2012 until 2015. He was the head coach for

Rugby United New York Rugby New York, originally known as Rugby United New York and officially nicknamed the Ironworkers, was a professional rugby union team based in New York City that was a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). The team played an exhibition season in s ...

for the

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

2019 Season. He is the current General Manager of Premier Rugby Sevens.

Early life

Tolkin grew up in New York. He played rugby at Xavier High School where he graduated in 1985. He went on to play college soccer at St. John's University.

Career

Tolkin, a rugby coach since 1986, was an English teacher at Xavier High School in New York, where he was the coach for the schools senior rugby team. He had an impressive record with the school, coaching them to three National Championships, six National Championship games, 17 National Championship Semifinals, and 20 Regional Championships. At the age of 23, Tolkin helped establish the U.S. Under-19 team in 1992, and served as the backs coach for that team. In 2000, he served as head coach of the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

in the Rugby Super League from 2000-2011. In 12 years, NYAC won three national championships during Tolkin's tenure. Having led NYAC to the national championship (along with leading Xavier to a national championship and his role as defensive coach for the USA Eagles) resulted in Mike Tolkin winning the 2010 Coach of the Year award by We Are Rugby magazine and by RugbyMag. In 2008, Tolkin joined the United States national side as defence coach, which saw him play pivotal part in their

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

campaign. The Eagles played well defensively during the 2011 RWC, limiting Tier 1 countries

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to 22 and 27 points respectively, and holding

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to only 6 points. His ability to get the best out of players, which saw him specialize in talent identification and player development serving as a talent recognition selector in 2001 for former USA Head Coach Tom Billups, saw Tolkin promoted to Head Coach in 2012, taking over from Irishman

Eddie O'Sullivan Eddie O'Sullivan (born 21 November 1958) is an Irish rugby union coach, player (wing & fly-half) and a former Gaelic footballer. He is a former head coach of Buccaneers RFC the United States national rugby union team and of the Ireland nation ...

U.S. head coach

Tolkin was announced as head coach of the United States national rugby team on February 15, 2012. Tolkin set out with the stated aim of qualifying for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

as Americas 1, and progressing out of the Pool Stages. Tolkin stated that, at the time of his hiring, he and the USA Rugby Board of Directors agreed the following goals: * Create a positive squad culture and attitude among the Eagles, * Create an excitement about following the Eagles, * Move up in IRB Rankings (ranked 18th at the time), and start to beat higher-ranked teams, * Create greater depth in the program, * Turn the scrum into a solid attacking platform, * Defeat Canada 3/4 times we play them, and * Qualify for the

. Tolkin's first game in charge was against

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. The United States failed to win this match, losing 28–25, though went on to defeat

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a week later. Discipline was a massive issue at the start of Tolkin's tenure, conceding 1 yellow card and 2 red cards in his opening three tests, with the 2 red cards being issued during the USA's 30–10 defeat to Italy in

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. In 2013, the United States, along with Canada, joined the IRB Pacific Nations Cup, which would see the two sides compete regularly against Pacific Islanders opposition. The U.S. debut in the tournament came on May 25, 2013 against Canada, which saw Canada claim a 16–9 victory. Despite this, the Eagles pushed a strong Irish team the following week, losing 15–12. USA failed to claim any win during the 2013 PNC, finishing last which just 1 bonus point win. In August 2015, the United States lost on aggregate 40–20 to Canada to fail to qualify for the World Cup as Americas 1. However, in March 2014, Tolkin guided the States to an aggregate score of 59–40 over

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

to qualify for the World Cup. On June 21, 2014, Tolkin guided the States to their first victory over Canada since 2009, winning 38–35, which saw the States finish second in the Asia/Pacific 2014 PNC conference. Later that year, in front of a sold out

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, USA lost 74–6 to the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

, the first test between the nations in America since 1913. Then on September 5, 2015, the States played the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

at the same venue, going down 47–10, though the half time score was 14–10 to Australia. Though the U.S. did qualify for the

, Tolkin failed to achieve a win in the tournament, losing to Samoa 25–16, Scotland 39–16, Japan 28–18 and South Africa 64–0, which saw the States finished last in their group.

Rugby United New York

Following the 2015 World Cup, Tolkin returned to coaching the New York Athletic Club, achieving an undefeated record for the 2016 season. Tolkin was retained as the temporary Head Coach for

(RUNY), New York City's

(MLR) franchise, for the 2018 exhibition season. In August 2018, Tolkin was appointed as the team's permanent Head Coach. Tolkin Led RUNY to a successful

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, finishing with eleven wins and five losses. Under Tolkin RUNY made it to the semi-finals where they ultimately fell 22-24 to the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion are an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team plays its home games at Torero Stadium. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 ...

. Shortly after the 2019 MLR season concluded, it was announced that Tolkin's tenure as Head Coach for RUNY was already over. Despite leading the team to a winning season, Tolkin reportedly struggled to get along with several of the team's top players as well as franchise owner James Kennedy."Mike Tolkin gone from Rugby United New York", ''Americas Rugby News'' (August 30, 2019). http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2019/08/30/mike-tolkin-gone-from-rugby-united-new-york/. Retrieved March 15, 2021.

Honors

United States *

Americas Rugby Championship The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, was an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Brazil national rugby u ...

**Runners-up: 2013, 2014 Xavier High School *East Coast High School Rugby Championship **Winners: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 **Runners-up: 1987, 1988, 1991, 1996 *National High School Rugby Championship **Winners: 1993, 2010 **Runners-up: 1997, 2011 *NRU Championship ''(Replaced EC HS Rugby Championship in 2003)'' **Winners: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

* Rugby Super League **Winners: 2005, 2008, 2010 *US Div. 1 National Championship **Runners-up: 2001

References