Portugal get a new rugby Brain
The Portuguese Rugby Federation has announced the appointment of 42-year-old New Zealander Errol Brain to replace long-standing national coach Tomaz Morais.
Morais coached Portugal when they made the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France but he was also the coach in 2009 when Portugal failed to make the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand – beaten to qualification by Georgia, Russia and Romania.
Brain, a former captain of the NZ Maori, has signed a three-year contract, hoping that Portugal will qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Japan. Brain starts his new job in October 2010
Brain said on his appointment: “It’s an opportunity to coach at a high level and I’m very passionate about rugby coaching.
“There are never any promises of rugby jobs in New Zealand and so when opportunities like this come up, you’ve just got to take them.”
Brain played 125 times for Counties Manukau before going off to play and coach in Japan for seven years. He then went back to NZ and became an assessor of referees.
