My Story: Simon Amor
England coach Simon Amor opens up on his playing career, his coaching journey and some key people in his life.
From a Premiership debut aged 18, being named the world’s best sevens player in 2004, to playing in the Varsity Match as well as leading Team GB at the Olympics, and now being part of Eddie Jones’ backroom staff, Simon Amor talks obout his intriguing career so far.
The 40-year-old is currently the senior men’s attack coach while combining that role as Head of England Sevens where he works across both the men’s and women’s programmes.
England Rugby sat down with the former half back to hear how he got into rugby, his varied playing career and his pathway into elite coaching.
Early life
“I loved being outside, being creative - I was quite a competitive kid,” is the response when Amor describes his childhood.
Born in Kingston upon Thames, sport was a big part of his life and he has fond memories of his parents taking him to football, cricket, athletics and gymnastics.
It was not until the age of 10 that Amor started playing rugby when he joined the minis section of London Irish as he lived near Sunbury, and combined this with playing at Hampton School.
One of his first rugby memories was when he went to Twickenham Stadium in 1991 with this dad to watch England win the Grand Slam. Sat in the front two rows behind the dead ball area, Amor lights up talking about that experience at The Home of England Rugby - wooden benches, the atmosphere, kickers using sand for tees and witnessing one of Twickenham’s most memorable tries.
“I remember it so vividly. There was a miskick and the French counter attacked from their own line.
“When the ball got passed out from behind their own line my dad said at the moment they gave it to [Phillipe] Sella, ‘oh no don’t give it to him’ just in fear of what might happen. So as a young kid I got exposed to one of the greatest tries that has ever been seen at Twickenham, as well as England winning the Grand Slam.
“And then running onto the field after, as you could back then and you were allowed to!”
Playing days
Amor was mainly a scrum half during his playing days, something, which he laughs about, has to do with his 5ft 6in height, but adds because ‘I was quite a vocal character on the pitch.’
He did, however, play at fly half for his school and London Irish, who had Kieran Campbell coming through at the same time who went onto play for Ulster, Connacht and Ireland.
It was at Hampton School where a coach called Steve Timbs made a real impression on a young Amor, a coach he recounts who was not fussed about results, but about wanting to make you a better player.
“He refused to let you kick the ball. We were not allowed to kick our way out of trouble, he made us find solutions and play our way out.
“We weren’t a massive rugby school at the time but from the start of the season and getting trounced a bit, to becoming better rugby players, with better handling skills and better decision making, for a small team it made us exceptional.”
His progression at London Irish saw him handed a Premiership debut at 18 against Leicester Tigers, coming on against Martin Johnson et al, where on his arrival he would find South Africa’s Joel Stransky opposite him at 10.
His first international recognition came while studying Management Studies at University of Cambridge when he was called up by England Sevens, playing alongside the likes of Josh Lewsey, Phil Greening and Henry Paul. He was named captain for the Hong Kong Sevens in 2002 and recalls it as one of his career highlights.
“I did the coin toss for the final with [Waisale] Serevi and I had this surreal moment that I’m about to play in the world’s most famous sevens tournament for my country, against the world’s best sevens team in Fiji and I’m playing against the best player in the game and someone I idolised. As a student that’s not bad! We won it too which was unbelievable.”
Amor earned his blue in the 2000 Varsity Match when playing at fly half as his side lost 16-19 to Oxford, and spent the rest of his professional career at Gloucester and Wasps, winning a Powergen Cup and playing in a Premiership final with the Cherry and Whites.
At Gloucester, Amor switched between club commitments and captaining England Sevens for four years, something that he believes was a much simpler task at the turn of the century.
“It was a lot easier back then as you didn’t have the same fitness demands in either types of the game,” he added.
“Players could shift across quite easily. You had to do a load of extra top ups and I loved the conditioning side of things, it’s probably why I love sevens so much – I love the physical demands and exertion of the game, of being exhausted.”
His performances for England on the world stage saw him named the inaugural Sevens World Player of the Year in 2004, but it’s not an accolade he gives much thought.
“If I’m being honest it is not something that has ever been significant for me - I was never motivated by individual achievements.
“What I loved about sevens, and the game of rugby, is working as a team and how you have those wonderful moments in changing rooms, those nights after, the celebrations, the relationships – that is the stuff that sticks in your mind. Of course it’s a lovely thing but it’s not why you play the game.
“My wife actually broke it and she was panicking about it. It took her about six months to get it replaced and she presented it to me and I hadn’t even noticed it had gone.”
Coaching
Amor left professional rugby in 2008 and became Performance Advisor at UK Sport, but kept his hand in the game in a player-coach role at London Scottish.
Although he had no intention of becoming a coach, he had had a wonderful education from his playing career under some of the game’s most recognisable coaches. First Sir Clive Woodward who was involved with London Irish, Nigel Melville and Dean Ryan at Gloucester and Sean Edwards and Sir Ian McGeechan at Wasps.
The chairman of Tesco at the time, Sir David Reed, persuaded Amor to take a director of rugby role at Scottish and he helped the club from National Two South to the Championship.
“I loved the feeling of helping people get better, which is basically what coaching is – you’re helping people achieve goals and improve from A to B. When you get it right it is incredibly rewarding as an individual, but when you do it as a team and achieve success, wow it’s just so special.”
He moved from Scottish to the England Sevens programme in 2013 where the opportunity to be involved with his country again was not something he could miss out on.
“I’m massively patriotic,” he stated. “I’m very fortunate to have been involved in England teams since I was 15 years old and I love my country, with the rose and what the RFU is about. To combine that with sevens which I loved as a game as a player it was the perfect opportunity.”
Learn off a master
With England, Amor won silver at the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup and a bronze at the Commonwealth games in the same year and he led Team GB men’s sevens to silver at the Rio Olympics.
Ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he was asked by Eddie Jones to come out to the training camp in Italy as Scott Wisemantel was unable to attend. Such was his impression that Jones asked if the attack coach role was a job he would consider, and Amor was appointed at the start of this year ahead of the Guinness Six Nations.
“Given what a world class coach Eddie is, it was the opportunity to learn off a true master and to work with a programme and a group of players who are incredibly successful.
“It’s been an unbelievable experience so far, I felt so honoured when I was asked. I thought I’d learnt a lot in my coaching career so far but I’ve learnt so much.
“It’s been very, very full on and very different for me from going from a full-time programme in the sevens which is day in, day out to a camp-based programme, so you’re trying to squeeze everything you possibly can to get the programme and the training as best as it possibly can be for the players.”
England have won three of their four games since Amor has been part of the coaching team and he recognised the need to work with the talent at his disposal.
“It’s not about me putting my stamp on what is already a very, very good team. You’ve got two brilliant players in Owen [Farrell] and George [Ford] in particular that understand how they want the team to shift and attack.
“So it’s working with them and a big part for me is working with the outside backs and trying to understand how we can be sharper with lines of running, and being more efficient and effective with taking the opportunities that get created for us.”
Another elite coach Amor speaks to is England football manager Gareth Southgate as they spent three years together on the UK Sport Elite Coaching Programme, with Southgate promoted to his current role from the Under 21s role he had just a few months into the course.
“It has been wonderful to chat with him. What’s been great is his understanding of particularly the change in culture he’s managed to do with that group of players, as well as the influence of the media and social media, and understanding the process he’s gone through with that, with this next generation coming through has been fascinating.”
