UK Coaching Week: Ross McCann’s coaching journey

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 03: Edinburgh rugby staff during a Celtic Challenge match Edinburgh Rugby Women and Clovers at Hive Stadium, on February 03, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

“I did a bit of coaching with Edinburgh Napier University last year, with University of Edinburgh Women this year, and I did a bit with the Scotland Under-18 Commonwealth Games team before they went out. I coached with the Edinburgh Rugby women in the first Celtic Challenge season too. It’s only been the last couple of years that I’ve really started actually ramping up and trying to do more serious stuff.

“I’ve done mainly backs and attack, I did defence when I was at Napier. But backs and attack, that’s the thing that I enjoy, attacking and getting the ball in hand and creating transitions because the game’s all transitions now and especially at the Uni,  we have so many talented attacking players at all levels that if we can create transitions as much as possible they absolutely tear up, you can see how talented those players are in broken field transition and attack and it’s just really enjoyable to work with. It makes your job easier when they’re already really good at it and you’re just trying to like give them different ideas.”

Coaching found McCann during his rugby sevens playing days, when he was looking for a fulfilling way to spend his spare time. The bug soon hit him, with seeing players progress, improve and enjoy the sport he has played for so long bringing him real satisfaction.

“When I was playing sevens, I had a lot of time around camps and stuff like that, and it was around like, what can I do now to be productive? And then as soon as I started doing it, I was like ‘oh, I actually really enjoy this’.

“I think it’s seeing that what you’re trying to put across, when that works, the learning process and then seeing people achieve things, especially this year. I’ve had a lot of joy seeing the girls and women that I’ve coached this year go on to just jump up from 2^nd XV to 1^st XV, or 1^st XV to Celtic Challenge, Celtic Challenge to national team, to age grade stuff as well. I take a lot of joy out of seeing those people  and seeing those people prosper and grow.”

McCann coaching with Edinburgh Rugby Women in the Celtic Challenge.

Balancing coaching with his playing career does present challenges, and demands additional preparation time in an already busy schedule.

“Obviously to be successful in coaching it takes a lot of planning and a lot of extra hours outside of actually showing up on the pitch and chucking a load of cones down. It takes a lot of time away from the pitch, and it is difficult in terms of balancing everything, but then everything if you’re going to try and do something outside of rugby is busy and hectic so it just takes extra bits of organisation and prior planning.”

But McCann sees the reward in those extra hours of work, and thinks that combining coaching with their playing career is something more young players coming through should consider.

“It makes you appreciate how hard it actually is, how much time it actually takes because when you’re growing up you don’t actually understand how much time coaches spend sitting on a laptop away from the pitch and trying to review things, and stuff like that. You probably are a bit naive to what’s actually happening, so it gives you more of like a depth of how hard it is and I definitely recommend it to people, because it is really rewarding and really enjoyable.”

In terms of his own future, while he is, for now, focusing on the present and enjoying his time both in his playing boots and with his cones and whistle, a career in coaching is something McCann will seriously consider when his playing career finishes.

“I haven’t thought massively about it, but it’s definitely something that I really enjoy and if it was something that was available me post-rugby then I’d love to keep doing it. I’m learning loads from a lot of different people which has just been great.”