The Rugby
coaching Story

Our programme is the basis of all World Rugby coaching courses and continues to be the model adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union.

About Lee smith

Feb 16 1946 – Jan 9 2021

More Than 50 Years Of Experience

Lee was a formidable force with incredible focus, strength and a passion for all things rugby. Lee started coaching rugby at an early age and coached secondary school, senior club, and provincial level rugby before joining the NZRU. With an impressive international career spanning more than 50 years Lee conducted coaching and performance planning courses in rugby unions around the world.

His roles included Director of Coaching for the NZRFU from 1988 till 1995; Director of Development with the IRB (1996-2001) and as Oceania Development Manager (2001-2010).

Lee proudly consulted for the IRB, the Asian Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union, the Oceania Rugby Union, and several New Zealand provincial rugby unions. He enjoyed working alongside high profile performance-driven teams; including the All Blacks, the Hurricanes, national teams in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Korea, Singapore and several provinces in the New Zealand Domestic Provincial competition.

The coaching strategies and methodology Lee developed at the NZRU continue to be used internationally, and his work has been translated into many languages.

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