/ 1 March 2011

Friend fired as ACT Brumbies coach

Andy Friend has been fired as ACT Brumbies coach, two matches into the Super 15 rugby season, and has been replaced by Tony Rea.

Friend was in the final year of a three-year contract.

Rea, appointed on Tuesday until the end of the season, was one of Friend’s assistant coaches.

A former rugby league hooker with North Sydney and the London Broncos, Rea was coach and chief executive of the English Super League side before joining the Brumbies in 2009.

The Brumbies beat Waikato in their opening match before losing to the first-year Melbourne Rebels 24-23 last weekend when ex-England flyhalf Danny Cipriani’s penalty goal in the final seconds clinched an upset result. — Sapa-AP