February 12, 2016
Adriaan Ferris Joins PRO Rugby San Francisco Team As Coach
Photo: PRO Rugby – Adriaan Ferris
Doug Coil
PRO Rugby League teams continue to take shape as Adriaan Ferris joins Paul Keeler as an Assistant Coach in San Francisco. Adriaan has made his impact felt in the rise of the Life West Gladiators in Northern California. Life West may find itself competing in the Pacific Rugby Premiership next year if it continues to plow through opposition this year.
The USA Club Rugby dynamics are likely to change if the new PRO Rugby League is successful. Time will tell as the League begins practice in a month and the season begins April 10th and continues through August 7th. A three week respite will occur during the last three weeks of June for International play.
With the success of PRO Rugby, will the elite club rugby change their focus to the Fall season?
The suspense has been building and the skeptics have been circling. They must be tiring however, as Steve Lewis, the Director of Rugby Operations for PRO Rugby has been contracting coaches that are among the cream of those coaching in the United States. Their imprint has already been felt by high performance athletes throughout the United States.
The PRO Rugby announcements are becoming almost a daily ritual. The rugby community I feel is anxious to get ready to rumble on the pitch. One more venue still remains as teams for the inaugural season have been named in San Francisco (Paul Keeler), Sacramento (Luke Gross, Kevin Battle, & Fred Waititi), San Diego (Ray Egan), and Obetz, Ohio. Coaching announcements are coming in a flurry. The last venue announcement is critical, since then we will learn about the players.
This weekend, on February 14, there are two more combines lead by Tiger Rugby in Dallas, Texas and in Greenboro, North Carolina. Click to register.
PRO Rugby Press Release: Adriaan Ferris
“PRO Rugby is pleased to announce the appointment of Adriaan Ferris as Assistant Coach for the San Francisco team in PRO Rugby’s 2016 inaugural season. Ferris is a native of New Zealand, who graduated from Massey University before embarking on a highly successful coaching career, which has included Northland, Tonga, and a four-year spell as New Zealand U-20 Selector where he worked with future All Blacks. His current role is Athletic Director at Life West.”
