Alexander Magleby

Alexander Magleby is a professional rugby union coach and former United States national team player and captain.

Playing career

Magleby was selected to the US national rugby sevens team his senior year of Dartmouth College, subsequently starting at hooker from 2000 to 2005, and captaining the Eagles to the 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens. He also appeared for the US Eagles 15s on eight occasions garnering four test match caps from 2000 to 2001.

A Dartmouth College alumnus, Magleby was captain his senior year (1999-2000). He started at flanker all four years helping lead the Big Green to Ivy League Championships in 1998, 1999, and 2000 under long-term Dartmouth Rugby head coach, Wayne Young '72.

Magleby played for Legendary high school rugby coach Larry Gelwix at Highland High School from 1993 to 1996. The movie Forever Strong (2008) was inspired by coach Gelwix and his team's history, particularly during the mid-1990s era. Magleby helped the team win national championships in 1994, 1995, and 1996, and was the team's Most Valuable Player (Forward) his senior season. Magleby was the first Highland Rugby alumnus to play both 15s and 7s for US Eagles national team.

While at Highland High School Magleby served as Student-Body President, was co-captain of the American football team, and was Valedictorian.

Coaching career

A Dartmouth College alumnus, and former Dartmouth Rugby captain, he coached his alma-mater and the Ivy League powerhouse from 2001-2012, leading the program to eight Ivy League Championships in that time and a five-year Ivy Rugby undefeated record.^[1] Under his tutelage the Dartmouth’s Sevens team won the USA Sevens national Collegiate Rugby Championship in 2011 and 2012.^[2][3]

Magleby was the head coach of the US national rugby sevens team for the last portion of the 2012 IRB Sevens World Series, the 2013 IRB Sevens World Series, and the 2013 IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.^[4] He took over for former coach Al Caravelli in March 2012.^[5] Magleby announced his retirement in June 2013 to return to his consulting business.^[6] He soon there after became the Technical Advisor to Dartmouth Rugby.^[7]

In his short 16-month tenure, Magleby led the US team from a 14th place one-win nine-loss streak, to by his last three tournaments, a top-five iRB Sevens World Series point collection. The 2012-13 season was marked as the most number of Cup finishes by a USA team, with Cup qualification in five of the nine tournaments, including two Plate championship wins, the team’s first ever in the 16-team tournament format.^[8][9]

The 2012-13 USA team crucially finished one place ahead of rival Canada in 11th place, and proved by the end of Magleby’s tenure to be able to best the world’s traditional 7s powers with first-ever wins over South Africa and multiple playoff wins over Fiji. As of the end of 2013 the US national rugby sevens team had never beaten the All Black Sevens team, although Magleby's teams dropped the average point differential from 34.0 during the previous coach's tenure to 9.5 during 2012-13 IRB Sevens World Series. "Alex Magleby who has just completed his first full season has seen his side finish the season so strongly that commentators are thinking they might be an outside bet for Rugby World Cup Sevens Moscow." ^[10]

The team had a 59% winning percentage over the last three tournaments, the second best in US history, with 10 wins and 7 loses combined in Tokyo, Scotland, and London—four of those wins were against the top-3 teams and all were against “core” teams. In all three of those tournaments the US made it into the Cup and onto the Plate final. The 2012-13 HSBC Sevens Series will also be known for the introduction of 3 more “core teams” taking the total from 12 to 15, dramatically decreasing matches against non-core tier II and III competition.^[11]

During the 2009-10 season the US had, under then coach Al Caravelli, a 61% winning percentage during an 11-win and 7-loss streak in Wellington, Las Vegas, and Australia. During that streak the US team only beat one team in the top-6 from that year (England, 5th place) and five of the 11 wins were against non-core teams (including Guyana, Tonga, Niue, and Canada).

Prior to coaching the US national rugby sevens team, Magleby was the head coach of the Men’s Collegiate All-Americans – the elite university-level developmental program in the USA from 2009 to 2011. He led the All-Americans to a 2-1 record over the New Zealand Universities in a three-match series in 2011. Magleby also coached the first-ever Men’s Collegiate All-Americans Sevens team in 2011, a program designed to help prepare athletes for the senior men’s team and the Olympics.^[12]

Players Developed

Players that were introduced to international Rugby sevens under Magleby's tenure include Brett Thompson, Mike Teo, Jack Halalilo, Nate Augspurger, Luke Hume, and Carlin Isles.^[13] Notably Isles was a 100-meter sprinter who Magleby transitioned into rugby over the summer of 2012, by placing Isles at the Gentlemen of Aspen RFC under the tutelage of national team manager Andy Katoa. Three weeks after Isles first picked up a rugby ball, Magleby took him on development tour to Canada with famed touring side Atlantis. Following the tour Magleby signed Isles to a one-year contract at the United States Olympic Training Center.^[14]

As coach of the All-Americans, Magleby worked with and played a role in selecting and developing several current Eagles and international pros including Hayden Smith, Kevin Swiryn, Blaine Scully, Cam Dolan, Eric Fry, Zack Test, Colin Hawley, Peter Tiberio, Rocco Mauer, Seamus Kelly, and Shaun Davies.^[15]

Business career

Magleby co-founded Sylvan Advantage LLC in 2004, and has since led the consulting firm to be the largest distributor of Sportscode and Studiocode video analysis solutions in North America.^[16]

See also

• United States national rugby sevens team
• IRB Sevens World Series
• Collegiate Rugby Championship
• Dartmouth Big Green

References