Phil Greening

Phil Greening (born 3 October 1975 in Gloucester) is a former English rugby union footballer. Greening finished his rugby career with London Wasps in 2005. During his career he earned 24 caps for England, as well as going to Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2001.

His rugby career started at his place of birth, Gloucester. After playing for Sale Sharks, he joined the Wasps for the 2000 season. At Wasps he enjoyed a great deal of success, which included a total of four club trophies that the team won during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.

He earned the first of his 24 caps for the English rugby team during 1998. He was subsequently included in the England squad that competed at the 1999 World Cup in Wales the following year. He was a part of the British and Irish Lions that toured Australia in 2001. He also captained the English rugby sevens team, as well as playing at the 2002-03 Hong Kong Sevens. After retiring from the Wasps, due to a long-standing toe injury, he joined the England Sevens management team as Assistant Coach under Mike Friday until 2007.

On 17 November 2007 the BBC reported that he had been ordered by a civil court to pay £30,000 in compensation for a hand off on French wing Aurelien Rougerie which occurred during a club match between Greening's former club, Wasps, and Montferrand in 2002. Rougerie had initially sued for £45,000 after being hospitalised for 12 weeks and undergoing 3 operations on his windpipe. Greening has always maintained it was a fair challenge in a full contact sport and Damian Hopley, the Professional Rugby Players Association CEO says the ruling sets a very dangerous precedent in such a sport. Rougerie's lawyer said the court had sent a very strong signal.

After living in Singapore for almost 2 years, Greening returned to the UK and in May 2009, agreed to join London Welsh RFC as assistant coach, working alongside head coach Danny Wilson. “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work with head coach Danny Wilson vas he is a very talented young coach and we share the same desire and mindset. It will be a great learning curve for me to work alongside him,” said Greening.

“I’m really excited to be part of a club that is growing and is hugely ambitious for the future. It’s also a club where I can bring my own style, along with lessons and styles I have been fortunate to learn from working with great players and coaches, such as Clive Woodward, Warren Gatland, Sean Edwards, John Mitchell and Mike Friday.”

Wilson added: “Phil is a tremendous acquisition to the coaching staff at London Welsh. In the short time he’s been at the club Phil’s impressed me immensely with his eye for detail and his enthusiasm, and the players have really taken to him.”

Following the departure of Danny Wilson to the Newport Gwent Dragons, Greening took over as Head Coach.^[1] He was head coach until 2011. He maintained his links to sevens through this period when he coached Samurai International to victory in the Middlesex International 7s in 2010 and 2011.

On 15 August 2012, Scottish Rugby appointed Greening as the new head coach and programme manager for Scotland 7s.^[2] He joins on a three-year contract, which takes him up to and beyond the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Scottish Rugby confirmed on 1 March 2013 that Scotland 7s head coach and programme manager Phil Greening has left the business.

References

External links

• Wasps profile
• Sky Sports New article on the Rougerie case
• Phil Greening England Sevens profile
• Phil Greening's Charity: Sporting Chance Foundation
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/7099629.stm