Laurier Athletics & Recreation are pleased to announce that Phil Murphy will be the new head coach of the men's rugby team beginning this fall.

"The commitment Phil has shown to this program as an assistant coach since 2018, and where he sees this program going in the future, only scratches the surface for how successful he and our men's rugby program will be," said Ryan Lannan, Laurier Athletics & Recreation's Associate Director of Interuniversity Sport Programs.

"I look forward to working along with Phil and the staff he will assemble as they execute his vision for the coming seasons."

Previously on the coaching staff for the Guelph Gryphons, Murphy first joined Laurier as an assistant coach under Ian McLeod before being promoted to Associate Head Coach when Wood took over at the beginning of last season.

"Working with Ian was a great experience because he was always very open about what it took to be the head coach at Laurier," said Murphy.

"He always explained to me ... it's not just worrying about rugby on the pitch.

"You have to be mindful that many student-athletes are away from home for the first time... When they're at school, you're their mentor and peer in your experience with them growing at Laurier."

"When this opportunity came to me about being the head coach... I said I really enjoy working with this group of guys and I want to take on more."

Andrew Quattrin, one of Laurier's most decorated former student-athletes and currently playing professionally for the Toronto Arrows in Major League Rugby, maintains a good relationship with Murphy to this day.

"Phil feels kind of like a dad to me. He treats you like a young man. He understands you're going to have fun but also holds you accountable and works you really hard," said Quattrin.

"I'm really excited to see what he does with the program."

Wood will continue offering support for Murphy as he navigates his first season as head coach.

"What I've offered is I said I will do whatever is needed to be done," said Wood. "At this point, I think it's time for me to step back and let Phil take over and run the program as he sees it."

Both coaches had nothing but praise for the other.
 
"With Woody, we're a good partnership," said Murphy. "He has quite a bit of experience working with athletes at [university] age."

"[Murphy's] got a great pedigree behind him," added Wood. "He's got lots of experience, and I think the guys feed off that."

Wood isn't exaggerating. Murphy is an accomplished rugby player, having played 19 times for the Canadian national team over five years, as well as playing nine years professionally in France, England, and Italy before retiring in 2009.

And while Murphy will look to build off the success achieved under McLeod and Wood, including an OUA bronze medal in 2018 (the program's first provincial medal), he is also looking to implement his own vision for the team.

"We're always looking to improve. That's the beauty of sport. You're never perfect," Murphy said.

"Where we have our strengths, it could change year after year, right? The eight or nine players that graduated last year, what was the impact of them leaving? We don't know that until we start our next season."

Despite that uncertainty, Murphy offers a very optimistic view of the future.

"Because of the success that Ian and Jeff had, that makes it easier to recruit," he explained. "The first-year student-athletes that are coming in and the second-years that came in last year are the best groups of recruits that I've ever seen, so it is a very exciting time."

As for what Murphy believes this group can accomplish, he described the goal as being "year in, year out, in the top three of the province. And that's a very difficult task because there are so many great programs out there. But we want to be going to national championships."

Murphy knows that to get to that level, success can't be limited to what happens on the field.

"You need to get a bunch of different things right. You need to have the academics right... You have to make sure that off-field stuff is taken care of and that they're good citizens. Because if they're good in their mind, then they'll be good in their body."

"I have 60 rugby student-athletes who all want to play at the highest level possible - and maybe go professional. Even if that's not a success, I'm still going to have 60 men at the end of my tenure with them and I want them to be the best versions of themselves, on and off the field."

The men's rugby team's 2022 season will begin in September.