According to the Canadian Press on Tuesday, Craig Dods of Galashiels, Scotland has been hired as the new head coach of the Canadian men’s rugby sevens team. Dods will also be the assistant coach of the Canadian National Men’s Rugby 15 Team. On the men’s rugby 15 team, Dods will be working alongside head coach Stephen Meehan of Queensland, Australia.
Dods brings a significant amount of rugby coaching experience. He was the Hungary Rugby Union head coach from 2018 to 2021, the Scottish Rugby Specialist Skills coach from 2022 to 2024, and the Great Britain rugby sevens assistant coach from 2024 to 2026.
Dods’s greatest coaching accomplishment came at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago. He coached Scotland to a gold medal in the boys rugby sevens competition. In the gold medal game, Scotland defeated Fiji 25-20.
The immediate goal for the Canadian national men’s rugby team will be to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Four spots will come from the overall standings of the three World Rugby Sevens World Championship events in 2027. Events are taking place in Hong Kong (April 9-11), Valladolid, Spain (May 21-23), and Bordeaux, France (May 28-30). There will also be one Olympic spot up for grabs from the North American Olympic Qualifying tournament. This is Canada’s best pathway of qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games because the United States automatically qualifies as the host nation.
Meanwhile, the next big event for the Canadian National Men’s Rugby 15 team is the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Canada is in Pool C alongside Fiji, Spain and Argentina.
