‘Best of the worst’: Australian rugby hit hard by axed sevens coach
Less than a month after losing his job as Australia's rugby sevens coach, Andy Friend is disillusioned with what is going on in the game.
Friend said he wanted to continue in the role before Rugby Australia opted not to renew his contract after last month's Commonwealth Games and does not like the direction the game is going in.
After 23 years in the coaching system, he has seen the highs and lows from inside the belly of the beast.
He said players would come to him without even the most basic skills because Australian rugby has plans for world domination, but was yet to exhibit the patience to create the foundations.
"We've tried to build the pyramid from the top down. It doesn't work," he said.
"It's not about the people that sit up the top and play Super Rugby and coach Super Rugby. It's about the grassroots and about building the pyramid from the base."
He said Australian rugby has been on the slide "for a couple of decades".
At this point, the former Brumbies coach does not even follow the top-flight XV competition.
"I actually find it stale to be honest," he said.
"I can't understand the conference system. I can't understand how you can have a competition where you don't play everyone once and you can be the best of the worst, which is what we have in this country, yet you can still make a quarter-final. Doesn't make sense to me.
"I still love the game of rugby. I'll go and watch a club game because I still love the energy around that, but Super for me, it's tainted."
For Friend, despite his abrupt departure from the game, sevens is the way forward.
He described the abbreviated version of rugby as "the new frontier" and said if and when he is allowed back into the game, that would be his path.
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ABC .net
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