HIGH ACHIEVERS: Jack Hanratty departs uOttawa Gee-Gees for USA Rugby women’s 15s head coaching job

By Martin Cleary

Veteran rugby coach Jack Hanratty is on the move … once again.

After a three-year stint as Rugby Canada’s head coach of the women’s sevens program, which led to a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, and guiding the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women’s 15s team to the 2025 national championships tournament this fall, Hanratty will kick off 2026 as the head coach for the USA Rugby women’s Eagles 15s squad.

A native of Skerries, Ireland, Hanratty will relocate to San Diego to be based at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Centre to begin the Eagles’ preparation for Rugby World Cup 2029.

“I am truly honoured to take on this role at such a promising moment for women’s rugby globally,” Hanratty said in a USA Rugby press release last week.

“I look forward to engaging with athletes and coaches in their performance environments worldwide as well as collaborating with the exceptional talent we have domestically. This is an ambitious program with big targets and we are eager to test ourselves against the best in the world in 2026.”

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Tamara Sheppard, the USA Rugby general manager of high performance, was thrilled Hanratty agreed to lead the women’s Eagles’ 15s side for the next four years.

“His deep North American rugby experience and proven ability to deliver when it matters most make him an outstanding leader for this next chapter,” she was quoted in the release.

“Jack brings an innovative and enthusiastic approach to building a high-performance program with a strong commitment to working closely with our athletes both domestically and abroad. His vision positions us well for Rugby World Cup 2029 in Australia and even further as we build toward playing host to Rugby World Cup 2033.”

Hanratty was hired by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, which has one of the top women’s university 15s programs in Canada, in March, 2024. But he didn’t officially join the program until December, 2024, because of his commitment to Canada’s women’s sevens team for the 2024 Olympics.

Duncan McNaughton remained the Gee-Gees’ head coach for the 2024 season, which saw Ottawa post a 6-0 regular-season record, lose the RSEQ playoff championship to long-time rival Université Laval Rouge et Or and drop a 29-22 decision to Queen’s University Gaels in the bronze-medal game at the U Sports national women’s 15s rugby championship.

Hanratty was excited to lead the Gee-Gees’ women’s rugby program as he has always been a strong supporter of the “varsity structure and U Sports rugby for many years and joining this system is something I’m looking forward to,” he said in a Gee-Gees’ media release in March, 2024.

His main priorities were “to continue to develop the student-athletes and their ambitions in rugby, education and life,” as well as making the Gee-Gees a strong contender in conference and national university women’s 15s rugby.

Hanratty told the Ottawa Sports Pages this past summer, “we’re not only trying to create the best team in the country eventually – we’re trying to create the best two teams,” referencing his desire to continue helping to build Canadian rugby.

Read More: ‘Trying to create the best 2 teams’: Past Canadian Olympic silver medallist rugby coach Jack Hanratty takes helm of Gee-Gees

McNaughton fully supported Hanratty taking the reins as the head coach of the Gee-Gees women’s rugby program.

“Jack is a work-class rugby coach and it is a huge compliment to uOttawa and the Gee-Gees’ varsity sports program that he is joining this amazing group,” he said.

Hanratty arrived at the University of Ottawa with eight years experience from a variety of Rugby Canada programs.

In addition to his work with the women’s sevens team, he was the senior women’s 15s attack coach for three years, the head coach of the U20 women’s team, academy coach for the Atlantic Region and an assistant coach with the U18 men’s team.

He started his coaching career in his hometown with the Skerries RFC and at Skerries Community College. From 2007-13, he was the rugby development officer and community rugby officer for the professional side Leinster Rugby. Hanratty furthered his coaching expertise at Dublin City University, Balbriggan RFC and Railway Union RFC before heading to Canada in 2013.

During his only season with the Gee-Gees, he led them to a 5-1 regular-season record in the RSEQ, a berth in the conference final and sixth place at the U Sports national championship. The Gee-Gees lost only four games all season and three were to Laval, including the RSEQ final (41-19) and the fifth-place match at nationals (40-14). They also were defeated by CanWest champion University of Victoria Vikes in their national championship opener.

Hanratty also helped further the skill development of his players and aided first-year student-athletes Grace Dingwall and Claire Bennet make strong statements in their debuts.

Dingwall was named the RSEQ and U Sports women’s rugby rookie of the year, a first-team RSEQ all-star and a second-team All-Canadian.

Bennet placed second in the RSEQ scoring race with 60 points off 30 converts and was an RSEQ second-team all-star.

Hanratty also saw Sophie McDonald and Ngozi Mosindi become first-team RSEQ all-stars and first-team All-Canadians. Mercedes Cole was an RSEQ first-team all-star, while Quynh-Ni Au, Alysia Comtois, Erica Osei, and Bronwen Earle were RSEQ second-team all-stars.

“I loved the feeling at Matt Anthony (Field) when the team sprinted out with the flag and the way the fans were cheering and banging on the drums,” Hanratty recalled in a Gee-Gees press release announcing his departure. “The atmosphere is one of the luxuries of this place.

“As a whole, one of our values was ‘One Team, Une équipe’ and although I would have changed lots of things, that value lived throughout and I’m excited to see what results will come from the Gee-Gees’ program.”

In his one year with the Gee-Gees women’s rugby team, Hanratty “made a meaningful impact on the program, offering his technical expertise, international insight and a strong commitment to building team culture,” according to the release.

“In his time here, Jack undoubtedly helped move our program forward and we are deeply grateful for his contributions. We are proud of him and excited for what comes next,” said Danika Smith, the Gee-Gees’ assistant director, high performance.