England Sevens coach Ben Ryan won international honours with England at U18, U19 and U21 level following two victories in the Varsity Match as scrum-half for Cambridge and a stint captaining their Sevens side.

Ryan made his debut for Richmond aged 17 and played in every backs position during spells in the top two tiers of English rugby with Nottingham and West Hartlepool. Away from rugby he taught at St. Edward's School in Oxfordshire, where under his tutelage the school had a player in every England squad from U16 to senior (James Forrester as the senior player).

He joined Newbury in 2002 as backs coach and after graduating to director of rugby he took them in to National League One in his first full season in charge. He also continued to turn out for the club as a player in National One.

In 2007 Ryan replaced Mike Friday as England Sevens coach, taking on responsibilities until the end of the 2006-07 season while remaining at Newbury and also coaching England counties. As full-time Sevens coach he has attained great success, leading them to joint top in the World rankings heading in to the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.

Scrum Staff February 2009