Our star-studded coaching lineup for the upcoming season features some new and some familiar faces, ready and raring to prepare our players for their fixtures this season and in the hopes of successful Varsity campaigns in the Spring.
Men*s Head Coach: Ian Kench | Women*s Head Coach: Scott Hall |
Having played for the Blues in 2008 and 2009, Ian went on to represent Sale Sharks in the Premiership and then Nottingham and Esher in the Championship. After retiring from playing he joined Richmond FC as Forwards Coach of the Men's 1st XV, where he applied his trade for 6 years across the Championship and National One, finishing last year as Lead Coach. Away from Richmond he also was Director of Rugby and then Sport at Trinity School, building a programme that went on to win the National Schools Rugby Championship in 2022 at Twickenham. | Scott has spent the past four years playing professional rugby for Nottingham in the Championship, with notable appearances for Leicester Tigers. During his time in the Championship, Scott also coached within the Leicester Tigers academy and held a full-time role at Brooksby SMB College, specialising in player development and helping athletes transition into University and Championship Rugby. Now, as head coach of the OURFC Women*s team, Scott has returned to his hometown of Oxford while continuing to play in the Championship for Chinnor RFC. |
Men*s Blues Assistant Coaches: | Women*s Blues Assistant Coaches: |
Forwards Coach: Nic Civetta (USA, 35 Caps; Blue 2022)  | Scrum & Defence Coach: Mark Darlington (Netherlands 38 Caps, Chinnor 1st XV Scrum Coach)  |
Defence Coach: Chris Harris (Scotland, 46 Caps; British and Irish Lions, 1 Cap; Current Club: Gloucester, 91 appearances)  | Lineout & Attack Coach: Alex Woolford (Northampton Saints, London Welsh, Coventry, Bedford)  |
Attack Coach: Mark Atkinson (England, 1 Cap; Gloucester, 160 appearances)  | Attack and Skills Coach: Lou Gray (2 Scotland Caps, Oxfordshire County Coach)  |
Performance Analyst: Ed Snook. Ed continues his invaluable work with OURFC as performance analyst for the Blues this season. |
Greyhounds Coaches: | Panthers Coach: |
Backs Coach: Tom Wells (London Wasps Academy, Coached Oxford RFC) Forwards Coach: Will Garson (Played for OURFC 2016-19, Greyhounds Coach 2021-22) | Paul Evans is very beloved by the club, and we are excited to have him back to coach the Panthers for the third season running. Last season, our Panthers had an unbroken winning streak in the BUCS League, before being pipped to the post against the Light Blues. He's hoping to build on this success to deliver another great year for the Panthers programme. |
Whippets Coach: | Pumas Coach: |
Gavin Allinson (Oxford Quins Juniors, Wasps DPP, Present Oxford Uni Whippets) | Grace Gibson (Blue 2024) works in the office at OURFC, overseeing the colleges programme and RFU partnership, and will be additionally providing support for the Panthers programme and will lead on Pumas coaching when the team forms in early Hilary. She received the Puma of the Year Award in 2022 during her first season at OURFC and so is well placed to support our women*s players who learn to play rugby for the first time at Oxford, as the majority of our Pumas do. |
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