Anna Caplice – Coaching Lao Rugby & Challenging Perceptions

Anna Caplice is a former Irish 7s and XVs international who played at RWC 2017 and also played for Harlequins, Munster and Stade Rochelais Women as player/coach. She is also a rugby pundit and was part of the team commentating on the recent Rugby World Cup 2025. 

At the end of the year, she made the move to Laos to coach the men’s national rugby 7s team for the SEA Games 2025 in Bangkok – but she will also be staying on until the SEA 7s, coaching the women’s and men’s sides at the tournament in Singapore from 30-31 January 2026.

Photo Credit – LRF

SEA Games 7s 2025 Lao Men 

We asked Anna after the men’s team had finished all of their pool games, which they lost, but they were the bottom-ranked side to compete, and to their credit, committed to the tournament, unlike Indonesia, Brunei and Cambodia.

She told us what her experience had been like in charge as a coach of her first tournament in Asia.

Photo Credit – Rugby Photo Thailand

“The tournament itself has been awesome; the volunteers were great, the venue’s lovely, the pitch was lovely. It’s been as good as I’ve seen at any seven-tournament worldwide. So I am really impressed. Our journey down from Lao was great because we were ‘trapped’ in the bus together as a team. So you use that to your advantage, and we definitely did. 

I know right now, lads have had two tough days, but I know that they’ve taken the positives from it. Ignoring the scoreboard, the rugby and the experience itself will make them better players and make us a better team. And that’s kind of all you can ask for.”

We had several coaches tell us that the Lao men had impressed, and as much as they wanted to score points over the two days, and they created real chances to do that in every loss, the SEA 7s in 7 weeks gives them something to work towards. 

As we have also now reported numerous times, having the SEA Games feature rugby 7s again (and it will, in likelihood, for the next three editions in Malaysia, Singapore and then in Lao in 2031) gives all of the unions a platform to build on and regular tournaments to plan around.

Photo Credit – Rugby Photo Thailand

The formation of the SEARF also means they can more freely and independently create competitions to develop the game without being tied down by the politics of Asia Rugby and their ongoing financial and governance issues (our words, not theirs).

• Laos 0-39 Thailand
• Philippines 55-0 Laos
• Malaysia 34-0 Laos
• Singapore 34-0 Laos 

We asked the head coach what the goals had been coming into the tournament.

“We were talking about where we can get a win? And the tournament schedule actually changed (Indonesia was a late withdrawal), so we came up with a bit of a plan with the original schedule. And then, when it changed for us to have Thailand in the first game, the host and a big, strong team, and our guys know them well. 

Then we talked about the possibility of beating someone like Thailand. We’ve seen it before with host teams that can fall asleep, especially against the underdog team.”

Photo Credit – Rugby Photo Thailand

Thailand went on to win gold, which was a real shootout between them, the defending champions Philippines, the runner-up, Singapore, and Malaysia. 

“A big thing for us is shooting for the stars, and you might land on the moon. I think that we just missed the moon. I think we didn’t achieve what we came here to achieve. Aside from all the positives, we really wanted to score, but we just couldn’t put it together.

I think a huge part of that is just not enough playing time for the players, because it took a couple of games from yesterday to actually start to feel what it is to play. 

Because you know yourself, anytime you don’t have playing time under your belt, you get a bit flat, you get a bit more anxious, you can’t hang on to the ball, and little things like that. That took a lot of our time on the first day and even bit into the second day. Unfortunately, that’s sevens too and doesn’t always work out.”

Photo Credit – Anna Caplice on tour with the Lao Men’s 7s side

Women’s Rugby in Southeast Asia – “I am very impressed”

Anna will be splitting her time between the men and women as we mentioned, with the women not having the players available to compete at the SEA Games, but the Laos Rugby Federation has committed to sending both teams to Singapore for SEA 7s.  We asked her opinion of what she had seen of the women’s game in Southeast Asia and Laos.

“I am very impressed with the women’s side of things. From what I saw, obviously, we were really busy, so I could only dip in and out to watch the other matches. But you can tell they play a lot of sevens in the region. The problems I just spoke about with my side – I didn’t see any of the women’s teams with those issues. 

They’re very well drilled, very good. And even overhearing bits of conversations from the players amongst themselves, ‘I should have done this’, ‘should have done that’ – like just regular rugby, especially sevens chat. The players could self-identify a chance they had and when the play had stopped, go chat with their teammates, have a break and some downtime, and then come back and play again, as you do in sevens. 

Photo Credit – TRU

In fifteens, you don’t have that, so the chance to problem solve on the go, which is such a lovely thing about sevens. I could see that in the women’s game being really, really strong here. And it made me really miss playing, actually. 

I was like, ‘Man, oh, I wish I were running around here with my team.’ And what a great place to play, too. I felt there was also respect between the men’s and women’s sides. I really always love that so much, you know, from my own experience, and how much I love men’s rugby and want the same respect for the women’s side. It’s really nice to see that here.”

SEA 7s 2026 Preparation – “They’re very lucky players to have a Federation which works so hard for them”

What is the plan now for her and LRF to prepare for Singapore?

“I’m really excited to go again. I played for Ireland Sevens a long time ago, and since then, any sevens I’ve played have been Invitational, so you go together once, and then you never play with the same team again. 

So this is really nice, and I’m really excited about the next step for this men’s team, because now we can build on something. Now we have something concrete to base it on and see what we can change, and listen to more player input. 

I am really excited as well to start working with the women’s side. They’re very lucky players to have a Federation which works so hard for them. I’m so impressed anytime I go into the office, and the people that are running Pass It Back, the volunteers and the schools, people that are working for them – there’s so much going on in Laos rugby-wise.

Photo Credit – Rugby Photo Thailand

Caplice explained, “I know that it’s going to pay off for them eventually. I know we’ve been dealing with this for a while, and it’s hard for the people who are putting in so much when it’s not turning up on the scoreboards because of the gap that’s still there and where you want to be.

I think Lao rugby should be really proud of the fact that they’re even here, you know, and so many great players that have come from Pass It Back with such interesting circumstances. 

So I’m really excited for these two tournaments to give the men a shot, and then give both of them a shot, and let’s see how much we can improve.”

Impact of Women’s RWC 2025 and Challenging Perceptions – “Just keep showing up in a positive way.”

Photo Credit – ChildFund Rugby – Grassroots to Global Connect Forum 2025

We met Anna at RWC 2025, and I think, like many others in attendance, the tournament left such a positive impression. How is she approaching her role in a very much developing part of the world for rugby compared to the elite level?

“I feel very privileged because I understand and have a real affinity with tier two and tier three rugby because of my studies and the time I’ve spent abroad. A lot of us in the Six Nations countries think that Ireland and all these top-tier teams – that’s where it is. And if you’re below that level, then rugby doesn’t mean as much to you. 

But rugby means just as much to all of these guys and all of these girls as it does to Sophie De Goede and Zoe Aldroft and any of the players you could mention at the World Cup.

There are girls who are here in Laos who love rugby just as much; they just don’t have the same access or opportunities. And I’m not more entitled to the positives. And you and me, and anyone listening or reading or whatever, will know how positive the values of rugby are. I’m not more entitled to it, and you’re not more entitled because you’re from South Africa and I’m from Ireland.

And if the Rugby World Cup can serve as a reminder of how far the women’s game can go, but we never forget how privileged we are in tier-one countries, then it transcends the whole way down. 

I was really lucky as well that I volunteered for ChildFund in the Summer at the Global Summit. There were girls from all over the world, and they were talking about the challenges that they have in terms of social perception and challenges. I was translating for a girl from Senegal and a girl from Madagascar, and we had talks about it and what it means to them and what it means for them. 

I had to tell them I’ve got the same problems in Ireland, and they’re the same problems in England and the same problems in France. And anywhere that I’ve played, there’s been this cultural challenge. The only difference is that England has been hammering away at it for so long, and even Ireland is starting to follow suit, and Scotland, France, etc.

Photo Credit – ChildFund Rugby – Lao 2025

You just need to keep showing up, keep hammering away. And eventually, you hammer it to a level playing field. And I can already see it here, and in somewhere like Laos, where men’s and women’s rugby has been given equal attention. Trust me, there’s an equal level of respect between the two teams, and that’s quite rare, and that’s something that should be celebrated.”

You just keep turning up. You just keep going. And that’s all you can do. I told you already about my story here when I went to the coaches’ meeting with a question, and they told me, ‘When the coach gets here, send him to us.’  I said, ‘Well, I am the coach.’

So you need to change perceptions, and that’s all you can do, is to just keep showing up in a positive way.”

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