LONG READ Steve Meehan: 'If you start winning, it’s amazing what effect it has on all fans.'

Steve Meehan has barely got his feet under the metaphorical desk as head coach of Canada, but he is unequivocal about the nation’s primary objective. After the crushing disappointment of missing their first World Cup ever in history, in 2023, the Queenslander accepts he will be judged on qualification for the expanded 24-team tournament in his native Australia. “The 2027 tournament will be an incredible honour as an Australian but first and foremost, it’s making sure Canada are there. That is the No 1 goal and ideally we want to wrap up qualification as quickly as possible.”

Meehan, 58, is widely travelled, and has imparted his wisdom in changing rooms at Bath, Stade Francais, Toulon in Europe and the Queensland Reds and Western Force on home soil. In nearly 20 years of coaching, he has worked with some of the greatest players to play the game including superstars Ma’a Nonu, Juan Martin Hernandez, Will Genia, Sergio Parisse, Mathieu Bastareaud and Juan Smith but he is relishing working with a core group of players and unearthing some rough diamonds in a country where rugby is fighting for eyeballs as it battles with ice hockey, soccer and baseball for market share.

Succeeding experienced coaches, Kieran Crowley and Kingsley Jones, Meehan says his interest in Canadian rugby was piqued by personal connections made on his rugby journey over the last three decades. “I’ve taken an interest in the Canadian game for a long time. I remember a young Canadian coach, David Hill, came to Brisbane and ended up travelling with us on our end-of-season tour to the UK. A few years later, when I was at Stade Francais, I spent time with Canucks legend Mike James, who funnily enough had spent time at my club, GPS, in Brisbane. Even a former club member of ours, Dave Clark, coached there. So, over the years, I’ve had all these little links that connected me to the rugby family in Canada.”

The competition for the role was heated but Meehan was the outstanding candidate and he will start the role in early April, after conducting an in-depth fact-finding trip in February.

“I had a tentative phone call about the role before Christmas, had a few conversations and the momentum built up from there. I think there’s an opportunity to have an influence, not only with the first team, but in wider rugby circles. I’m genuinely excited. I know it’ll sound like a buzzword, but it is a motivating factor to say this project is about more than just turning around a squad of 23 players.”

Meehan accepts the often unpredictable nature of professional rugby having seen the Toronto Arrows franchise being wound up in the MLR as head coach but wasn’t perturbed when the Canucks opportunity came along. “I got a good feeling because I’d seen what Stephen Aboud [outgoing Rugby Canada High Performance Director] had done in Italy and had positive conversations with CEO Nathan Bombrys. However, more than that, it was also about the rugby people I’d met over along the way who made me feel like this was too good an opportunity to pass up. I got opinions from those I trusted within rugby circles and I liked what I heard.”

You have to be able to dig deep and find out who is playing the game because professional competitions available right now are limited.

Meehan accepts the scale of the job  – it takes over 4hrs 30mins to fly from Toronto to Vancouver – is vast and with the professional game going through a transformative period, he stresses the need to be resourceful. “You have to be able to dig deep and find out who is playing the game because professional competitions available right now are limited, especially because of the folding of the [Toronto] Arrows. There may not be the professional opportunities for talented young rugby players just now. For some, it means leaving university and going into better-paid jobs or professions – certainly more lucrative than playing sport. That’s the reality. For Tier 1 nations, the pathways are a lot clearer.”

Meehan’s journey into coaching has not been straightforward, but his business acumen and deep-seated passion for coaching has seen him become one of the most respected voices in the game. “I worked for eight years for an importer in Brisbane and then had four years running my own business, then the opportunity came to go to Paris with Stade Francais. I had been coaching first grade at GPS and representative teams at both men’s and U19s because I really enjoyed the competition and buzz of the dressing room. That camaraderie really energised me. We have teachers on both sides of my family and I work as an educator at a technical and further education college, so it’s an area I feel comfortable in.”

Having spent most of his professional life as a coach, Meehan says the challenge is the continual learning curve you’re on. “You get a lot of good memories but you also reflect on the mistakes you’ve made. With experience you get to understand yourself a bit better as you mature. You want to take all the stuff you’ve learnt and impart it to your coaching and see if your players can grow and improve. I’m still in touch with a lot of players, wherever they’re playing in the world be it Japan, South Africa, Europe or here in Australia. Coaching is a fantastic vocation, it can give you the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. People say it’s addictive because on a good day it can be the greatest job in the world.”

In a storied career, Meehan has rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest coaches in the professional game, picking up vital titbits along the way. “I learnt a lot under former Springboks coach Nick Mallett in Paris and those couple of years alongside France’s head coach Fabien Galthie were fascinating. I’d also mention Bernard Laporte. His communication was crystal clear – he was a little bit more demonstrative than me, granted – but I just learnt so much. Closer to home, I’ve picked up behaviours from Eddie Jones in as far as putting across messaging in a way that is consistent and stops me from being distracted from external noise.”

With coaching, there’s always something you can pick up, a bit of gold dust, if you’re prepared to listen.

Coaching to Meehan isn’t just about coaching World Cup winners or Champion’s Cup winners, however. Whether it’s running an age-grade side in his native Brisbane or Toulon, it’s about retaining curiosity, and continuing to improve. “I’ve been through some really positive experiences, and some not so positive experiences. What that often tells you is, ‘how do I not want to be coached?’ I’m not going to sit here and say I’ve been perfect but I’ve had so many mentors over the years who have helped me grow. Barry Honan, the former Wallaby, stands out. He was coaching GPS here in Brisbane and teaching at my former school, Marist Brothers. He knew my family well and has been a massive influence on my coaching philosophy. He laid the foundations. There’s always something you can pick up, a bit of gold dust, if you’re prepared to listen.”

Canada have had a tough time of it in recent years and currently lie in 23^rd place in the world rankings. The national team have lost to Romania, Chile, Tonga, United States, Japan, Scotland, Spain in the last 18 months, so Meehan knows one of the first objectives is to build confidence within the squad.

Meehan accepts his in-box will be close to overflowing when he takes up his position, but he is relishing the challenge. “I think we have to be open-minded in how we approach this reboot. I’ve said it before and I mean it, ‘let’s go and find some players’. Just because an athlete is not playing in the MLR, it doesn’t mean they can’t be in the top 30 Canadian rugby players – let’s get them involved. I’m sure talent ID can be put in place and that’s when we’ll know where we’re at. You need numbers for player depth. Just recently, I had some clips of a young player who has come across from ice hockey. He was a big, big kid who has been playing for three years. If individuals have the right athletic genes and we can work on their skillset and rugby IQ, who knows where that will go? I’m confident we can find some gems.”

Meehan, who won the European Challenge Cup in 2008, harks back to his coaching days with Bath when it comes to player depth. “At the time, Leicester probably had 30 players in their squad they could rotate and you wouldn’t see any noticeable drop in quality. I remember looking at their line-up for a Heineken Cup semi-final and they had five England internationals on the bench. That’s the sort of thing we want to build. I’ve seen plenty of late developers over the years. Danny Grewcock was a great example and Chris Latham another.”

Building a competitive fixture list will be key, with World Cup rivals Tonga, Samoa and the United States adversaries in the rebranded PNC (Pacific Nations Cup). It is something Meehan assures this writer Rugby Canada will be working hard on in the coming months. “The PNC is locked in and we have another few internationals lined up which we’re putting the final touches on. There will be a really big focus on getting games and we’ll finish off with a big November Series. The aim is for nine or ten Tests by the end of 2025.”

It wouldn’t be a barrier to selection if we had a smattering of players playing in the Top 14 and the English Premiership. If it can help the younger generation by inspiring them to what is possible, then fantastic.

Meehan restates his ambition to qualify for the 2027 World Cup, emboldened by the fact that if the national side is going well, it will bring eyeballs to the sport and see a ripple affect which could benefit the participation in the wider game. “I’ve seen that at club level. If you start winning, it’s amazing what effect it has on all fans. Everyone loves a winner, and that goes for all sports and competitions. We’ve seen that with the Wallabies improved performances and suddenly the British & Irish Lions doesn’t seem so scary.”

Meehan says he will also scour the Top 14 and Premiership Rugby for any players with Canadian links, as he casts his net further afield. “It wouldn’t be a barrier to selection if we had a smattering of players playing in the Top 14 and the English Premiership. If it can help the younger generation by inspiring them to what is possible, then fantastic. European rugby is the pinnacle. To have a regular 25 or 30 games a year sees players developing hugely. Having that experience could benefit the bigger picture.”

Looking further down the road, Meehan knows a first World Cup in the Americas will bring a profile never previously afforded to the continent. With volleys being exchanged politically by the new US administration, Meehan thinks the sporting relationships will be untouched and bonds further enhanced. “I know we’re sporting rivals but to ignore the opportunity presented would just be wrong. It is hugely exciting for North America to be hosting the tournament and you have to find ways you can turn that to your advantage. Having that North Star of the 2031 World Cup can only inspire young Canadians. Even from speaking to people, the numbers watching MLR are growing and it is getting some traction. One of the sides, the Seattle Seawolves, aren’t that far over the border and everyone I speak to tells me it’s a sleeping giant and they’re on the right path. We need to ride that wave.”