 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.jpg) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1971-09-11)11 September 1971 (age 54) | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft10+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Performance Director | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Ben RyanCF (born 11 September 1971) is an English sports coach who is best known for coaching theFiji sevens team to a gold medal insevens rugby at the2016 Rio Olympics. He is currently Performance Director atPremier Leagueassociation football clubBrentford.[1][2]
As Fiji's sevens coach from 2013 to 2016, he guided the team to their first ever Dubai 7s title, and set the record of tournament titles won by a Fiji Sevens coach with nine. He coached Fiji to win the inauguralrugby sevens competition at the2016 Summer Olympics. The gold medal was the first ever medal won byFiji at any Olympics.[1]
He is also a former coach of the England sevens team.
Ryan was educated at Strand on the Green Junior School and atWimbledon College.[3] He is a former member of Thames Valley Harriers Athletic Club, where he was a successfulsprinter at school boy level.[citation needed]
He graduated fromLoughborough University with aBSc inSports science andCambridge University (MPhil in Education), where he won two Blues as a scrum-half in the Varsity Match-winning sides of 1995 and 1996 as well as captaining the Light Blues’ Sevens team.[4] He is a former teacher atSt Edward's School, Oxford where he was master in charge of rugby and athletics.[5]
He played club rugby with Nottingham and West Hartlepool.[3]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Ben Ryan" rugby union – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
He taught atSt Edward's School, Oxford which, by the time he left after six years, had a player in every England international squad from Under-16 to Senior. Previously the school had no representation on international teams. He joined Newbury Blues in 2002 as backs coach and led them from National Division Two to One (Championship) in 2004–05 (his first season as full-time Director of Rugby). He was assistant coach to England Counties on their tour to Argentina and Uruguay in 2005 and head coach for the 35–7 victory over Tunisia in June 2007, and against Ireland Clubs and France Amateurs in March 2007.
Ryan's first IRB tournament as England Sevens coach was Wellington in 2007, and up to the Dubai Sevens 2012 he was in charge for 56 HSBC IRB World Series Sevens Tournaments, over 300 games – the longest serving England Sevens head coach – and reached the semi-finals or better 28 times.[6] Outside the HSBC World Sevens Series he was also head coach for the 2009 RWC and 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and in his last tournament in charge of England led them to their first Rugby World Cup 7s Final in 20 years, losing to New Zealand in the final.[7]
In the FIRA European Series, he coached 7 tournaments and overall coached England in 67 international tournaments, a total of 378 games.[8] In 2011, Ryan was also in charge of the England side that won the Junior Commonwealth Games in the Isle of Man, beating South Africa in the final 41–20.[9]
In August 2013, he resigned as the coach of the England Sevens team and was replaced bySimon Amor.[8][10]
In September 2013, Ryan was signed as the coach for theFiji Sevens team.[11] He led them to victory in the Dubai 7s for the first time in the nation's history in only his second tournament in charge.[12] His appointment also coincided with financial problems for the Fijian Rugby Union, resulting in Ryan's volunteering to go unpaid for several months of his contract.[13]
As coach of Fiji, Ryan won nine World Sevens Series tournaments – two in the2013–14 season and four in2014–15, overtaking the record set by former coachWaisale Serevi, who won four Cup titles with Fiji. Fiji won three more tournaments in the2015–16 season.
In May 2015, Fiji were crowned the overall winners of the2014–15 Sevens World Series after defeatingSouth Africa in the cup quarter final of the2015 London Sevens, giving Ryan his first everSevens World Series title.
At the2016 Summer Olympics, Ryan coached Fiji to a gold medal in therugby sevens competition, where the team earned Fiji'sfirst ever medal in the history of the Olympics.[3]
Ryan confirmed that he would be stepping down as coach in 2016, but had not made any plans for the future. In August 2016, he was given the Fijian nameRatu Peni Rayani Latianara, along with three acres of land inSerua.[14]
Ryan has servedFrance sevens as a consultant and runs his own consultancy business.[15][16] He has worked as Technical Director ofRugby X and is an ambassador for Play-Ex Sports,HSBC andFiji Airways.[17][18][19][20] In June 2022, Ryan moved intoassociation football when he was appointed to the newly created role of Performance Director atPremier League clubBrentford.[3]
.png) | Companion of the Order of Fiji (CF)[21] | 22 August 2016 |
After winning gold and returning to Fiji, Ryan was accorded thehighest order when he was awarded theCompanion of the Order of Fiji.[21] He is depicted on the reverse of a circulating 50 cent coin, and on the front of a circulating commemorative $7 banknote.[22]
Ryan married Natalie Peck on 4 July 2009. They separated in September 2016 and were officially divorced on 2 August 2017. They had no children. In April 2022, he got engaged toMichelle Ackerley.[23] They married in May 2024 and reside in SW London. Ryan is a Brentford supporter and was aseason ticket holder at the club.[3][24]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
