Paul Emerick (born January 24, 1980) is the head coach of the American Raptors in

Glendale, Colorado The City of Glendale is a home rule municipality located in an exclave of Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 4,613 at the 2020 United States Census. Glendale is an enclave of the City and County of Denver and i ...

. He was the defense and skills coach and the 2019 interim head coach for the

Houston SaberCats The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its f ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

. He was a former

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

international

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player. He played

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, fullback or

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

for the USA Eagles and last played professionally for

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

Club

Emerick was born in

Emmetsburg, Iowa Emmetsburg is a city in Palo Alto County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,706 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Palo Alto County. Emmetsburg is located around the southern bay of Five Island Lake. History The to ...

, and played his university rugby with the University of

Northern Iowa Panthers The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I (Division I FCS in football). History The school's mascot is t ...

. He then moved into senior rugby with the

Chicago Lions Founded in 1964, the Chicago Lions Rugby Football Club is a USA Rugby club based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Chicago Lions namesake is taken from the two large lion statues that guard the entrance to the Art Institute of Chicago Bu ...

. He moved to Italian rugby in the 2004–05 season joining

Amatori Catania Amatori Catania Rugby is an Italian rugby union club based in Catania. They are the only professional rugby union team in Sicily. The club was founded in 1963, and play at the Stadio Santa Maria Goretti. Amatori Catania have thus far not won th ...

and then to Overmach Parma the following season. In the summer of 2006 Emerick completed a move to

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

side Newport Gwent Dragons, the side he helped knock out of the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken 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 ...

in a playoff a few months earlier with Overmach Parma. In 2008 Emerick re-joined Italian club Overmach Parma from Welsh regional side

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

. Overmach Parma had gone through a re-organisation that saw the club merge with Noceto in August 2010 to form Crusaders Rugby Parma. In September 2010 he joined

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

on a 3-month contract. He signed a deal with

in February 2012. On August 7, 2013 Emerick announced his retirement from professional rugby.

International

Emerick was first

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

by the USA Eagles in April 2003 against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and as of September 2011 Emerick has been capped 54 times becoming the first back in Eagles history to have more than 50 caps. As of June 19, 2012, Emerick had notched 15 career tries for the United States, ranking him second on the all-time list and first among active players. Emerick received a yellow card in the closing minutes of the Eagles'

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for a tip tackle on England's

Olly Barkley Oliver John Barkley (born 28 November 1981) is a former English people, English rugby union player who played for Bath Rugby, Bath, Gloucester Rugby, Gloucester, Racing Metro 92, Racing Metro, FC Grenoble, Grenoble, Scarlets and London Welsh at ...

. Emerick was subsequently suspended for five weeks, ruling him out of the remaining Rugby World Cup campaign. He was suspended for ten weeks in 2009 for kicking Canadian center D. T. H. van der Merwe in the head during a qualifying match for the

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 International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

Coaching career

Paul Emerick is the skills and defense coach for the

on September 20, 2018.

International tries

References

External links

Newport profileUSA rugbyscrum.comUSA profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerick, Paul Houston SaberCats coaches Male rugby sevens players Dragons RFC players 1980 births Living people American rugby union coaches American rugby union players People from Emmetsburg, Iowa United States international rugby union players United States international rugby sevens players Ulster Rugby players Wasps RFC players