Canada women’s coach Kevin Rouet draws high praise from players for his ‘rugby brain’

Rugby Canada chief executive officer Nathan Bombrys calls Kevin Rouet “the Jack Reacher of rugby coaches,” a reference to the itinerant character created by author Lee Child.

The fictional Reacher, a muscular former major in the U.S. army’s military police, and Rouet share the fact that both are always on the move.

Rouet follows rugby.

The 38-year-old coach is currently without a home, having given up his Victoria apartment just prior to the Canadian women’s Aug. 1 win over the United States in Ottawa.

“I’ll check where I’m going to live after the World Cup,” he said nonchalantly.

A past pied-à-terre in Quebec City also saw little of Rouet, who in an October 2022 interview estimated he had spent perhaps two weeks there over the previous eight months.

“Quebec is my home but I’m not there a lot,” he said at the time.

Choosing a new residence may have to wait until after a post-tournament vacation. “I don’t have family so it’s easy,” he noted.

Rouet and second-ranked Canada open Group B play Saturday at the World Cup when they taken on No. 14 Fiji in York, England.

It’s the second World Cup in charge of Canada for the French-born Rouet, who took over in March 2022 after three years as assistant coach. The Canadians finished fourth last time out at the pandemic-delayed tournament in New Zealand in November 2022, losing 36-0 to France after falling 26-19 to England in the semifinals.

Rouet has won titles throughout his coaching career, lifting trophies with the Quebec senior women’s team, Club de Rugby de Quebec and Laval University women. He also served as an assistant coach with Stade Bordelais in France during the 2021-2022 season.

“I think Kevin is a massive rugby brain,” said veteran flanker Karen Paquin. “He’s got that creativity and that innovation that is really really awesome and it challenges all of the players to learn, to adapt, to change, to think about why and how.”

Canada captain Alex Tessier echoes that sentiment.

“Kevin is a very clever man. He’s very smart, he knows rugby a lot. It’s very stimulating, in so many ways … He’s also a very challenging man. I think he expects a lot from his players,” said the centre/fly half.

“But at the same time you want to give him a lot as well because he’s dedicated his whole life to us. You can see that. He’s invested everything for this team. So it’s very easy for us as players to buy into his style and into his rugby.”

Bombrys says while Rouet is a student of the game, he sees the “bigger picture” of rugby in Canada.

“He’s committed to Canada and he understands Canada. He understands our circumstances in terms of Rugby Canada and where we are … He doesn’t focus on what we don’t have, he focuses on what we do have. And he’s been really good to work with in terms of finding solutions.”

Veteran prop DaLeaka Menin says Rouet also scores points off the field with the players for his consideration of life balance.

“While his rugby brain is very impressive, he also is very considerate to all of the sacrifices some of the girls make to be able to play for this team and I do really respect that,” she said.

A former mechanical engineer, Rouet gave up his day job to focus on rugby.

Rouet obtained his master’s degree in engineering from Ecole nationale superieure d’Arts et Metiers (ESNAM), an engineering and research institute of higher education in Paris. He moved to Quebec at 23, earning a master’s degree in project management from the University of Quebec at Rimouski.

Initially he just planned to spend two years studying in Quebec. But he stayed on after getting a project manager job with Canam Engineering, working in bridge construction.

Some five years into the job, he quit to focus on rugby.

“Six years ago I just decided I can’t do both of them at the same time efficiently,” he said in 2022. “I was not efficient with my job as an engineer because I did too much rugby. And I was not efficient with my rugby because I did too much engineering.

“So I had to pick one and I just picked rugby because you have more fun coaching rugby than being an engineer,” he added with a laugh.

His bank account suffered but he said “passion” won the day. He wanted to pursue coaching — and he knew he could always return to engineering.

As a player, Rouet saw action as a scrum half, fly half and inside centre at club level. He started in the under-19 and under-21 ranks with Stade Francais in Paris before shifting to his home club in Nemours, southeast of the French capital.

After coming to Canada, Rouet continued playing with the Club de Rugby de Quebec before devoting himself to coaching.

He had started coaching in France, working with young boys. He started coaching women with Club de Rugby de Quebec.

“They needed a coach and I was young and I had time to kill,” he said.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2025.