Andrew Friend (born 24 April 1969) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

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

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

. He was previously head coach of the Australia Sevens team, the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

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 The Yokohama Canon Eagles is a Japanese rugby union team founded in 1981 that competes in the Japan Rugby League One and is owned by Canon. The team was previously based in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. According to the official website, it was founde ...

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 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 the ...

rugby programme in 1995. He held assistant coaching positions at the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

and the Brumbies. He was also the Brumbies skills coach under Eddie Jones. 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 Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

-based

side. He took over from

Laurie Fisher Laurie Fisher (born 25 April 1958) is an Australian professional rugby union coach. He is currently the forwards coach of Super Rugby team the Brumbies. Early life and rugby career Fisher was born in Canberra. Rugby playing days: * 1st Grade Au ...

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

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

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 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 so ...

setup for the 2002 Tri Nations Series 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 o ...

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