Boston RFC captain and player/coach Justin Evans (pictured left) was offered and has accepted the head coaching position left vacant when former coach Steve Taylor stepped down at the end of the spring. Justin comes to the BURFC program with an impressive resume of playing and coaching experience.
He has captained the Boston RFC Super League team the past couple years, also acting as player/coach for them in 2002. He has been acting as an assistant coach for Harvard University since 2002, the same year this BU cross town rival was runner up for the Collegiate Div 1 National Title. Justin had been pursued by Harvard to return in a full-time capacity this coming fall.
Justin's rugby started at a young age where he earned representative honors with the Bucks County and English Schoolboys. He continued that tradition at Swansea University (Wales, UK) where he earned representative honors among the Welsh Universities.
He went on to play in the English Second Division in1994 for Saracens Rugby Club. He made the English Premier Division in 1995, playing two years for the Wasps Rugby Club. He went on to a full-time professional rugby career in the Italian Premier Division playing for Bologna Rugby Club for 3 years, then earning contracts with Piacenza and Rieti Rugby Clubs in Italy the following years. Looking to have a go in the USA Premier Super League, he accepted an offer to play for Boston RFC in 2002. He coached and played for the side again in 2003, and was also named captain.
Justin began coaching in 1997 when he became the Youth Team coach for the Bologna Rugby Club for his 3 years with that club. He coached the under-16 and under-18 sides for the Rieti Rugby Club in 2001. Upon moving over to the US to play, he secured an assistant coaching position for Harvard Univeristy in 2002 where he helped lead the program back to its elite status and reach the national finals. He also acted as player/coach for Boston RFC in 2003, while also helping coach the Harvard program that year. He turned down Northeastern University for the head coaching position in the fall of 2004 preferring to continue his playing career and remain an assistant coach with Harvard.
Justin graduated from Swansea University with a degree in Arts, honors in French and Italian. He speaks Italian, French and Spanish, and has aspirations to continue his teaching career here in the US. Newly Married to his wife Jen this past winter, Justin was open to considering a career move from playing into "full-time" coaching and learned about the BU opening. Current Boston RFC teammate and BU alumni Chris Randall along with former coach Steve Taylor courted Justin to interview for the position at the end of the spring. He was intrigued by the opportunity to run his own program while helping to contribute to the Boston rugby community and rebuild a local collegiate program.
Boston University was fortunate to get Justin in a transition period, and we are excited to get someone of his caliber, experience and enthusiasm for the sport. This new chapter in BURFC will hopefully turn a page and help rejuvenate the program back to its status among New England's top teams. Justin will introduce himself in the summer newsletter which will also be posted here online. He plans to meet and work with the team over the summer, and looks forward to meeting alumni at the September 11 reunion.
From the BURFC family, current players and alumni, I'd like to welcome Justin to the family!