Kieran Crowley

Kieran James Crowley (born 31 August 1961) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who is the former head coach of Italy.

He first started playing rugby for his school, Sacred Heart College, in Auckland, where he was in the 1st XV in 1977, and in 1979, he was selected for the 1979 North Island Under-18 team.

Crowley made his Taranaki debut in 1980 as an 18-year-old, playing variously at fullback, wing, and second five eighth.

He also appeared for the New Zealand Colts team in 1980, and again the following two seasons.

After a New Zealand trial in 1982 and playing for the North Island, in 1983 Crowley came into the All Black side for their 1983 British Isles tour.

He was a late call up to the side, having replaced Allan Hewson who injured himself in training prior to the team's departure.

He failed to make any appearance in the test side, but did play against South of Scotland team in Galashiels to make his first All Blacks appearance, winning 30–9.

He made further two appearances, winning 18–15 and 18–6 against London Division and South and South-West Counties respectively.

He gained his first taste of international opposition against Fiji on 27 October 1984, however the All Blacks fielded an All Blacks XV side, and did not award caps for the match.

Crowley received his first international cap on 1 June 1985 against England in Christchurch, winning 18–13.

He appeared in tests against Australia and Argentina that year, and against Australia and France in 1986.

In 1987, he was part of the 1987 World Cup winning side, included in the squad as a backup for fullback John Gallagher, and again he featured in the side for the 1991 World Cup, not as an original choice, but was called up after injury to Terry Wright, and played the semi-final against Australia, losing 16–6 in Dublin.

He was made a life member of the Taranaki RFU in 1993.

Crowley also played cricket for Taranaki in the Hawke Cup and for Central Districts in one season of the Brabin Cup (Second XI) competition.

Crowley continued to play for Taranaki until 1994, becoming its leading points scorer and one of the few players to play 200 games for his Union.

Crowley was coach of the Taranaki provincial side from 1998 to 2007.

From 2002 to 2003 he also acted as a selector for the All Blacks.

He has also coached the New Zealand Under-19s in the 2007 World Championships as well as coaching provincial side Taranaki.

He previously served as head coach of Canada.

He also spent five seasons coaching Benetton Rugby.

He is a former member of the New Zealand All Blacks where he played as a fullback.

Crowley was born in Kaponga, New Zealand.

In 2007, he coached the New Zealand Under 19s at the World Championships in Ireland, where they went undefeated, beating South Africa in the final 31–7, winning the competition for the first time since 2004.

In March 2008, Rugby Canada announced that Crowley would be replacing Ric Suggitt as head coach of the Canadian national team.

On his announcement, he recognized that Canada was always recognized as a physical side, but Crowley wanted to put more of an emphasis on the development of skills and their attacking play.

His first match in charge was against Scotland A in the 2008 Churchill Cup.

Canada lost 24–10, then lost 17–16 to an Argentina XV side.

His first official test match came on 21 June 2008 against the United States in Chicago, in the bowl final.

On that occasion, Canada won 26–10.

In November of that year, Crowley led Canada to a 4-match tour of Europe which included 3 tier 1 oppositions, the most Canada has ever faced on 1 tour.

The first match of the tour, was a first ever encounter against Portugal, with Canada winning 21–13 in Lisbon.

However, the final three match saw Canada score just 13 points, with Canada failing to score any points against Ireland (55–0), and Scotland (41–0).

Though they did manage to push Wales at the Millennium Stadium, being just 4 points behind them at half time, 10–6.

However, they were unable to stay in touch with the Six Nations Champions, with Warren Gatlands side running away with the match to win 34–13.

In 2009, Crowley had his first incoming tour from a European side, in the likes of Ireland and Wales.

Canada lost both matches, 25–6 and 32–23.

During the 2009 Churchill Cup, Crowley won just his third test match, winning 42–10 over Georgia.

However, a defeat to Ireland Wolfhounds, saw Canada face the Argentina Jaguars in the Plate Final, losing 29–44.

On 11 July 2009, Crowley guided Canada to qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, beating the United States with an aggregate score of 47–30.

They joined the World Cup in Pool A, which featured the hosts New Zealand.