All Blacks great and 2011 Rugby World Cup winner Brad Thorn has been unveiled as part of a new and exciting coaching ticket to lead Malta Rugby national men’s team.
Thorn, who represented New Zealand 59 times, was brought to the code from league after a brilliant career playing for the Brisbane Broncos, Queensland and Australia.
The lock’s club career in union included successful stints at the Crusaders, Sanix Blues, Leinster, the Highlanders and Leicester Tigers before he moved into coaching.
Super Rugby AU success
Thorn led the Reds to Super Rugby AU glory in 2021 but then left his head coach post in 2023 and has since been an assistant head coach at Brisbane Boys’ College 1st XV.
His next assignment sees him link up with the Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU) after they also announced the appointment of Dr Phil Pretorius as their Head Coach.
The MRFU revealed they received over 100 applications for the vacant head coach job, but South African Pretorius got the role due to his 30 years of coaching experience.
Pretorius has led four international sides – the South African Barbarians, Tonga, the Cayman Islands, and more recently the Czech Republic. In his tenure with the latter between 2017 and 2019, Pretorius led the restructuring of Czech rugby – a process which ultimately culminated in the country gaining promotion to the Rugby Europe Trophy competition, and entering the top 30 in World Rugby’s rankings for the first time ever.
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Beyond that, he has significant experience at club level, having coached the Blue Bulls and having coached over 200 matches at Currie Cup level in South Africa. He also boasts coaching experience in Ireland with the Galway Corinthians, achieving record results in domestic competitions, and further experience as Head Coach and Director of Rugby at Stellenbosch University, where he headed South Africa’s biggest university rugby club, Maties Rugby.
“I’m very happy to have Dr. Phil on board as our national team coach. Along with his professional, rugby skill set, which has been tested in a long and distinguished career, he has the right temperament for Malta rugby at this stage of development,” MRFU President Gerald Strickland said.
Thorn joins the backroom team as Forwards and S&C Coach after enjoying a playing career that included winning five Bledisloe Cups, three Tri-Nations competitions, two NPC titles, one European Champions Cup, and the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he became the oldest player to feature in a World Cup final – a record which still stands.
This won’t be the first time in Malta for the All Blacks legend, as he has a special connection to the islands, since his wife is Maltese.
Jaike Carter added
Also joining the new staff will be Jaike Carter, who comes on board as Backs Coach and Malta Sevens Head Coach.
An elite international Sevens player, Carter has represented Spain in this sport around the globe in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
He will be a familiar face in the setup, having coached the Malta men’s Rugby Sevens team into the 2025 Games of the Small States of Europe, where Malta won a bronze medal.
“I would like to take the opportunity to welcome Brad and Jaike to the national coaching set up. This coaching combination is a first for our national rugby team, and hopefully a dream set-up for our national team players, who we expect to respond accordingly,” MRFU President Strickland said on the appointments.
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