Career
He was appointed as head coach of the Australian Sevens team in 2016. Friend was previously head coach of the Brumbies team in Super Rugby. He was also head coach at English club Harlequins, and at Canon Eagles and Suntory Sungoliath in the Japanese Top League.
His position of choice was full-back.
Friend began his coaching career within an Australian Institute of Sport rugby programme in 1995. He held assistant coaching positions at the New South Wales Waratahs and the Brumbies.
He was also the former Brumbies skills coach under Eddie Jones. In the summer of 2005, Friend joined English Premiership team Harlequins as head coach.
Following the conclusion of the 2007-2008 season, he signed a three-year contract with the Canberra-based Brumbies side.
He took over from Laurie Fisher as head coach at the Super Rugby club He was the third coach to either be fired or not have their contract renewed by the ACT Brumbies board. After helping out as a trainer for various Canberra high school teams, Friend went to Japan in 2012 and became the head coach at Canon Eagles for two seasons.
He was head coach of Suntory Sungoliath from 2014 to 2016.
Friend guided the Australian Under-21 team to the final of the 2005 World Championships. He worked within the Wallabies setup for the 2002 Tri Nations Series and 2003 Rugby World Cup.
He was appointed as head coach of the Australian Sevens team in 2016. This was to support Brain Injury Australia and Outward Bound.
