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| Birth name | Shawn Pittman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | January 22, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bellingham, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 118 kg (260 lb; 18.6 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shawn Pittman (born January 22, 1988 in Bellingham, Washington, United States) is an American rugby union coach and former player. Pittman played prop for Old Puget Sound Beach and the United States Eagles. He played in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He is currently the head coach of the Utah Warriors in Major League Rugby (MLR).
He also represented his country at under-19 and under-20 levels. His debut for his country was against Uruguay on November 8, 2008.
Youth rugby
Pittman started playing rugby when he was 18, after being persuaded to take up the sport by some rugby playing friends.
He first played representative rugby for the U.S. in 2006. He was selected for the U.S. squad for the Under 19 World Junior Championships in Belfast in 2007. Also in 2007, Pittman undertook the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand's Advanced Course at Massey University in Palmerston North, where he met the likes of Grant Fox.[1]
In 2008, Pittman played for the US national under-20 team in the first-ever IRB Junior World Championship in Wales. Pittman played in all five matches and scored two tries in the defeats to Fiji and South Africa.
Senior and professional rugby
Pitman made his senior debut for the U.S. Eagles against Uruguay in November 2008. He also featured against the England Saxons in 2009. He featured in the 2010 Churchill Cup, putting in a man-of-the-match performance in a 39-22 win over Russia.
Pittman joined London Welsh in the summer of 2010 from Canadian side Bayside Sharks, having previously gained Super League experience in the U.S. with Golden Gate. It was a fitting end to his first season in English rugby in which Pittman had been a permanent feature in the Welsh front row, making 29 appearances for the club and scoring one try in the 54-9 play-off win over Bristol at Old Deer Park.
Pittman and the Eagles beat Russia 32-25 to clinch the 2011 Churchill Cup Bowl at Sixways in England in June. Pittman played in all four U.S. matches in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, starting in two.
Pittman’s last appearances for the U.S. were in August 2013, starting in a pair of matches against Canada. Pittman struggled with concussion issues, before announcing his retirement from rugby in September 2014.[2]
Coaching career
2016 - USA Men's U20's Assistant Coach
2017 - Current USA Rugby Men's National Team Assistant Coach. Shawn joined the Eagles as an Assistant Coach in 2017 with the change-over in head coach from John Mitchell to Gary Gold. Pittman was a part of the staff that lead the USA to the 2019 RWC.
In 2019 Pittman joined the Utah Warriors as an Assistant Coach. In 2021 Shawn took over as interim head coach and was named Major League Rugby coach of the year for the 2021 season. After the season he was named head coach heading into the 2022 season.[3]
References
- ↑
- ↑ "Shawn Pittman Retires". Thisisamericanrugby.com. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
- ↑ "SHAWN PITTMAN NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR". Major League Rubgy. Retrieved August 12, 2021.