Andrew Coe Interview
It’s been a while since we’ve spoken about rugby 7s on the show and today is the day we finally change that as we speak with Canadian rugby 7s player Andrew Coe about the sport in Canada and his Olympic experiences! We find out from Andrew just how playing soccer got him into the sport and what the rugby scene was like growing up for him. We also find out just what it is like facing down the All Blacks during a World Cup match, and also comparing his experiences of competing at both a Rugby World Cup and an Olympic Games. Added to that we find out his incredible story around the emotional journey the Olympics took him on, as well as finding out just why he has a bit of an obsession with Starbucks. It’s a great chat that you won’t want to miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast coming to you once again today for an interview. We love bringing you interviews and an exciting chat today. We are speaking with Canadian rugby sevens Olympian Andrew Coe, competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Canada, also the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. And this is a fascinating chat. We actually haven't spoken to a rugby player since we spoke to Charlotte Kaslick a couple of years ago. So always exciting to return to a sport, which is always fun and entertaining to watch and learn about. And you're gonna learn a lot in this chat. Andrew goes over just how we got into the sport, how soccer somehow made him play rugby. There's a connection there. You'll find out about it in this. And also quite an incredible story about the emotional journey for the Olympics for him. Sort of it's very interesting to hear his take on everything that happened right from when Canada withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics, right through when he was selected for the games. It wasn't quite a simple case of being selected for the Olympics. This is my dream come true. So there was a lot of emotions that came with that selection, and it's a very fascinating story. It's a fun chat. You're going to enjoy every single second of it. Here is our chat with Canadian Olympic rugby sevens player, Andrew Coe.
BEN WATERWORTH: Very excited today on Off The Podium to return to the sport of Rugby Sevens. We actually haven't had an athlete from the sport in a couple of years. And today, we're not only speaking to our first athlete from Rugby Sevens in a while, our first ever Canadian athlete from the sport of Rugby Sevens. He competed as part of the Tokyo Olympic team, Team Canada also competed at the Commonwealth Games, and also in the Rugby World Cup in 2019. And I'm very excited to learn a little bit more about his journey in the sport, the sport in Canada and everything else in between. It's a pleasure to welcome to Off The Podium, Mr. Andrew Coe. Andrew, first of all, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to speak with you today.
ANDREW COE: Thanks for having me. It's awesome to speak with you as well. Obviously, you live in Victoria, so we can chat a little bit about Victoria and what there is to offer over here.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm repping the Pacific FC jersey today. I was mentioning to you off there. I thought I'd go a little bit more local sort of with that as well. I mean, you're all based out in the same stadium, right? So you're essentially right there. So, I mean, do you actually get to sort of, do you train or sort of bump into the Pacific FC guys or is it kind of all, you know, not really around the same area?
ANDREW COE: No, it's all, I mean, it's all under the same facility. We train on the same field. We bump into them, you know, now and again. You know, we're quite friendly with them. So we see them all the time, but I actually haven't been to one of the games yet. So I think that's up on what's next for me to go to in Victoria is I need to go to PFC game because it looks like a ton of fun. And you know, we train at the same facility. So I got to go support them.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. Out in Langford, beautiful part of Victoria. I mean, close to Costco as well. So I can imagine that it's free. That's the main thing, right? You're close to Costco. So that's good parts of the city.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, you go to Costco, get a hot dog and all your groceries and you're good to go.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm sure that's on the training regimen. You know, go get your dollar hot dog from Costco, essentially while you're there.
ANDREW COE: Hopefully my coach doesn't hear about that, but it's okay.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's where you're going all those times when we thought you were training, basically. That's why you've always got ketchup on your face, basically, when you're coming back. But I believe you, I mean, while we're on the topic of soccer, I believe you sort of switched to rugby from soccer. You actually grew up playing soccer, if that's correct. I mean, how do you go from playing soccer to playing rugby? Because besides the use of a ball and a similar field, I don't really see too much of a connection between the sports.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, it's all about my dad. My dad was the one who made that call. I was playing soccer growing up, and I loved playing soccer, but I was quite a big kid. And I kept getting, you know, they were just teaching us how to shoulder check in soccer, and I kept getting yellow cards, red cards, I kept getting kicked out of soccer games. My dad eventually had enough, because he didn't want me just to get kicked out of all these soccer games that he's paying for me to go to. And he was playing rugby at the time, joined the Markham Club. So he brought me out, and we kind of did a little tester. I went to a couple of sessions, and I loved running around out there with the ball. And, you know, I haven't looked back since.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm always fascinated learning about the sport in Canada, because obviously coming from Australia, where rugby is a very big deal, it's always interesting when, say, we look at a country like Canada and think, well, they're not one of these, I guess, superpowers in rugby, so how do people get involved? But one thing I found when I lived in Canada was that the sport is actually quite big. It's very well, you know, supported, very well attended, and particularly obviously on the West Coast. But this was in Ontario, if I'm not correct. So what's kind of the rugby scene like sort of growing up in that part of the country where maybe the winters are a little bit colder and sort of it's not quite how it is over on the West Coast where you are at the moment?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, almost exclusively, everyone plays in high school. You know, that's when, you know, that's the most common story. People start playing in high school. And then, yeah, they grew up playing hockey and soccer and basketball. And then the younger age groups of rugby isn't really delivered too much to younger athletes. So everyone starts playing in high school. Then, you know, if they keep playing throughout university, and then there's a lot of strong clubs out in Ontario as well. But the weather is tricky. You know, we get down to minus 10, minus 20 in the winters. So there's no rugby going on. So everything has to be condensed within, you know, you're looking at May to, May to October, and all of the rugby that's being done is done between May and October. Unlike out here on the West Coast, when you can play pretty much year round. So it's a bit difficult for people over in Rugby Ontario to navigate that, but they do a great job, you know, getting people involved and engaged in the sport.
BEN WATERWORTH: Outside of soccer and rugby, were you involved in any other sports sort of growing up? And then did you all of a sudden just go, okay, I've got to focus on my rugby now because this is taking me places?
ANDREW COE: Oh, I played everything growing up, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, basketball. Tried out for a couple of volleyball teams, but I wasn't good enough to make it. Yeah, I just loved playing sports and the camaraderie. And that's what really separated rugby from all the other sports is, you know, all of my best friends and the camaraderie that rugby provided me. It was just too much fun to give up. And then eventually it got to a point where I could see myself playing it competitively. And that's when all the looks for universities and age-grade national team programs came up. And yeah, it's been fun.
BEN WATERWORTH: In that period when you're playing, is it mainly just 15s? I mean, was sevens much of a thing sort of during those initial years when you started playing?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, it's mostly 15s. There were a couple sevens tournaments growing up, but for the majority, it's just 15s, both at a club level, high school level, university level. It's 15s as the priority, then there's a couple off sevens tournaments here and there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, because of that period, of course, sevens wasn't an Olympic sport. I mean, it was right on the cusp. So, I mean, when you're setting yourself career goals, it's not like as a rugby player, as a teenager, at that point, you can say, I want to play in the Olympics. I mean, I'm guessing is the goal at that point to make the national squad to make a World Cup?
ANDREW COE: Pretty much. Yeah, the goal is to make a 15s World Cup because that's pre-Olympics and that was also pre-MLR. So you didn't have a professional setup in Canada that players can strive towards. So there's some pretty big jumps back when I was growing up. You know, you go from high school and to university, and then you go straight from club level rugby to the national team and in a World Cup and playing against the All Blacks, like the best in the world, and you're playing James Bay or UBC on the weekend, and then you go and play these top teams. So it wasn't until, thankfully the Olympics, they let Sevens come into the Olympics, and the MLR now, that guys can look at those types of goals, which are steps to a World Cup or an Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: Do you remember when it was announced that Sevens was gonna be an Olympic sport? And what was that moment like? I mean, was that like, wow, great thing to achieve for? I mean, had you grown up watching the Olympics thinking this would be cool and now you can potentially achieve this goal of becoming an Olympian?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I think everyone wants to be an Olympian, at least, you know, most kids playing sports want to be Olympians growing up because, you know, if it's not hockey over here, it's some sort of sporting event, swimming's massive during summer Olympics. And I had that goal too, but I never really had that outlet because I didn't play any sports that were in, or I wasn't high enough level to play in sports in the Olympics. Then they let rugby in, and as soon as they let rugby in, it kind of flipped a switch for me that said, okay, you can really do this. You can, if you put your mind to it, you can become an Olympian, and you can represent your country on the biggest stage of sport. And right from when they let that, the trial run go in Rio, you know, it's something that I always wanted to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: And does that change sort of the mindset? I mean, do you still then have the goal of a World Cup? Because I mean, I guess the unique thing about rugby is that 15s and 7s, you know, they're vastly different, but at the same time, very, very similar, and that you can achieve, and you ultimately will talk about achieve both goals. But does the Olympics become more important than achieving the World Cup? Or do you weight them equally?
ANDREW COE: You know, I get that question asked a lot, you know, 15s or 7s, but, yeah, I don't know. It's a tough answer because, you know, the Olympics is the pinnacle of sport in any sporting event, right? The Olympics is the pinnacle. So if I had to choose going to the Olympics, I feel like it really meant more to me than going to a Rugby World Cup. But that being said, going to a Rugby World Cup is an unbelievable experience as well. And I do not take that for granted. But yeah, I think you're the first person I've admitted to. Sevens, the Olympics is better than the World Cup, so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exclusive, we like it. We like it. It's exclusive. But I mean, it is that real uniqueness about it, because I think what Sevens has done though, is it's really grown the sport and made it more accessible to a lot of these countries, going back to my point about sort of the lesser traditional nations that you sort of think about. Because again, Canada doing so well, you've got all these other nations. I mean, look at Fiji, for example, and kind of the US and all these countries that not necessarily traditional powerhouses in rugby can go to a Sevens tournament and win a medal, win it by any chance. Whereas realistically, Canada are probably not going to finish top four, maybe not even top eight at a rugby World Cup, are they? So it kind of, it does open that competitive nature to grow the sport, which maybe, who knows, could expand the 15s game in 10, 20, 30 years time.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, both the Sevens and the 15s are, yes, they're different, but it's still rugby at the end of the day. And the skills are very much interchangeable. And yeah, Sevens has done an unbelievable job, especially here in Canada, with the Olympics, with us winning Singapore back in 2017, I believe it was. And we host a Vancouver Sevens tournament that is one of the favourite weekends of the year here in Vancouver, because so many fans get to go out and enjoy and watch Sevens live. And that does wonders for growing the sport, and we get to win a lot of the games. I think across any sport, being a fan, you want your team to win. And unfortunately, with Fifteens and the way it is, us going up against New Zealand and South Africa in a World Cup is, you know, we're probably not gonna win those games. So it's more fun for a fan to cheer if you have a shot at winning than not.
BEN WATERWORTH: But on the flip side of that though, getting to play the All Blacks in a World Cup, I mean, that's like making the NBA and you get to play against the Lakers and you're playing against LeBron. I mean, you know, you maybe realistically know you're not going to win, but you're on the biggest stage in your sport against the greatest team that exists in that sport. I mean, that's a pretty special feeling.
ANDREW COE: It was hard. I was being starstruck mid game. You know, I remember playing South Africa and I made a tackle on Siya Khaleesi and I remember getting up, I was like, oh my God, I just made a tackle on Siya Khaleesi. I was so starstruck the whole time. And just to play against that level of competition and see like, this is what it takes. This is what the best team in the world do to be the best. It was very humbling because obviously the score line reflected that. But it's an experience that I'm gonna remember for a long time. I ended up trading a jersey with Ben Smith for an All Blacks World Cup jersey. But I didn't get my hands on a South Africa World Cup jersey.
BEN WATERWORTH: So-
ANDREW COE: Wow.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, there's still time.
ANDREW COE: A regret. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. You got other ones, but I've always wanted to know what is it like standing in front of the All Blacks as they're doing the Haka at a World Cup? I mean, is it as intimidating as it looks?
ANDREW COE: Um, I wouldn't say intimidate. It goes back to just me being starstruck, you know? It's funny because it's such a pinnacle and such a massive thing in rugby. So we're all lined up watching them do the Haka, but then there's also, you know, everyone knows the word. So there's a stadium of 60,000 people doing the Haka with them. And it's, you know, I kind of took it more of, you know, enjoy the moment and enjoy what's happening because I was never going to get it again instead of an intimidation tactic.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, because I think that's a unique aspect. I always love kind of when they cut to the opposing team and you're all sort of linked arms and you've got that sort of look on your face like, Fuck you, we're not going to let you intimidate us. But at the same time, you're going, Oh my god, it's the Hawker, it's right in front of us, this is crazy. Yeah, especially because we don't see that every day.
ANDREW COE: The teams that play in New Zealand all the time, they're used to seeing the Hawker, but this is like once every four years, potentially, that we get to face off against them. So it's quite surreal. I've got a video of it somewhere, so I'm going to cherish that video.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which is actually interesting. I lived in New Zealand for a bit, and I didn't personally realise that it wasn't just a sporting thing. I worked as a journalist, and you would go to the opening of a school or some sort of school event, and the kids would perform a Hawker. I went to a funeral of a prominent rugby player and they performed a send-off Hawker. It's actually really incredible to see how traditional that is to New Zealand. And you see that obviously a lot of the Pacific Islanders have their own version in Australia. We've started doing the welcome to country thing now to associate that. Is there something that as Team Canada, you can do like a traditional something before a match, or has it been talked about to relate? This is a very rugby-based thing almost, isn't it?
ANDREW COE: It is, just because New Zealand have been doing it for so long. And New Zealand as a country is unbelievable with how they've worked on the traditional aboriginal Maori people who were there, interwoven with society as a whole, because Canada, we struggle with that quite a bit. How do we get our traditional aboriginal people into society, and how do we thank them and do all that kind of stuff? And there's nothing, we haven't spoken about it, but I think we definitely need to do more in the aboriginal community just to link it with rugby, because rugby is one of those sports where it's extremely diverse, it's very open, and we want to see everyone just enjoy the sport. So I think we need to do a better job of getting rugby into the aboriginal communities. And thankfully, we've had Phil Mack, who is Native, and he has done a phenomenal job in starting Thunder Rugby, which is a Native-based rugby program, and it gets a lot more Native kids playing rugby.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great, yeah, I mean, it's very, again, sort of in the eye-opening aspect, living in New Zealand or just that integration that sort of is just so natural up there, and it's sort of, we're similar in Australia, kind of how it is in Canada, sort of with some of those issues as well. So it's, yeah, it's very fascinating to kind of see how they do that. Just on that topic too, when it comes to nicknames, in Australia, we're a very big country for naming all of our teams, right? Obviously, we have the Wallabies, New Zealand, the All Blacks, South Africa, the Springboks. Does Team Canada have a nickname? Is there something that we can call you at a World Cup or Rugby Sevens? And if not, can we create something? Because I feel you need to have something.
ANDREW COE: Let's start something. Let's start spipping on ideas. I feel like we can get something going, you know? A lot of Canadians. I feel like the most common one is Canuck. You know, you get the Canucks. But yeah, I'm open to anything. Our team motto right now with the Sevens team entering into this new cycle is that we're the bad news bears. Bears are Canadian branding.
BEN WATERWORTH: The Grizzlies, right there.
ANDREW COE: The Grizzlies, there we go.
BEN WATERWORTH: Go for the Grizzlies, straight away. I don't want to say the Canucks just because that just makes me think of a mediocre hockey team, but you could go. I mean, Vancouver Grizzlies used to be a thing and you're based sort of out west, so it kind of all connects there in some weird way, doesn't it?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I'm into that. Let's start rolling with that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, All Blacks versus the Grizzlies, the Wallabies versus the Grizzlies. I mean, straight away, that sounds intimidating. Like, if I'm picturing two animals in a cage fighting, and I've got a Wallaby versus a Grizzly, that Wallaby stands no fucking chance. So, you know, straight away, you've got the advantage right there. Exactly. It's going to get its ass kicked essentially.
ANDREW COE: Have you ever been up to the top of Grouse Mountain?
BEN WATERWORTH: I have not. That was one place I didn't get to go to, sadly.
ANDREW COE: Well, they have a Grizzly that lives on the top of Grouse Mountain that everyone sees. I'm thinking whenever we play a game, we can bring the Grizzly down and show them off on the field.
BEN WATERWORTH: You don't need a Hucker. You just got a freaking Grizzly bear.
ANDREW COE: We've got a Grizzly beside us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Hucker, and you're just like, OK, we see your Hucker. There's our bear. Stare it down. All right.
ANDREW COE: I like it. I like it. I'll pitch that to the big wigs up top and see if they like it too.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good. I like that. That's how it works. In terms of positions, do you play sort of same positions when it comes to 15s and 7s? Do you sort of alternate? I mean, kind of like, how does that work for you?
ANDREW COE: Honestly, I just go where people tell me to go. Yeah, exactly. Whatever gets me on the field, I'll play in the front row if it gets me on the field. I don't think I'll do very well, but I'll give it the good old college try. But for the most part, I'm a winger fullback in 15s, and I'm either a 10s centre in 7s.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is that a preference? Is that just kind of where you've trained most of your time, or that's where you've been positioned?
ANDREW COE: Pretty much. That's where my skill set best aligns with the skill set of what's needed in that position. So I feel like that's best suited for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of your progression through the sport, when you first get that call up to represent Canada, I believe if it wasn't your first game, one of your first games, you play against the Maori All Blacks, get man of the match in terms of that in the 15s. What's that experience like from going from the call up to playing a team like that? Is that all of a sudden when you're thinking to yourself, like, this is happening, those sort of dreams as I had as a young boy are kind of slowly coming into place?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, it's... Yeah, there's a quote I heard where things happen gradually, and then all of a sudden, and that's very much how I felt about my rugby career, was it's very gradual, and I'm taking the steps, I'm going to university, I'm playing club rugby, and then all of a sudden, I'm in a test match against the Maori All Blacks. And it's kind of surreal at the time. I was still very young. I was only 21 when that happened. And it was just very eye opening to me. And I felt very positive about that game, because personally, I did very well and got man of the match. But looking back, we didn't have a good game as a team. And I think that's how my mindset has changed from being the young guy on the team, and it's all about how I perform and how I do, into now I'm an older guy, and this is way more of a team sport. If I do well, it doesn't really matter unless the team does well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because one of those interesting aspects, a man of the match award, no matter what sort of sport it is, that particularly if you're in the losing side, it's one of those weird sort of things where you're like, well, how do I take this? I'm sure personally it's a great achievement, but at the same time, as you said, it's such a team-based sport that ultimately it doesn't bring a difference to the scoreline at the end of the day.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, exactly. It was a tricky situation because we still lost quite a bit of points. And we had to go fly out to Georgia the next week, and we played Georgia the following week in Georgia, which was quite intimidating in and of itself. So yeah, especially being part of a losing side and gaining that sort of accolade. You know, you kind of take it with a grain of salt, and it doesn't feel quite right in your mouth. Yes, it's nice to be rewarded for doing well, but at the end of the day, it's not what we wanted. We wanted to win. So I'm happy it happened, but you know, looking forward, you know, it needs to be more of a team, get the whole team on board.
BEN WATERWORTH: It must be interesting. You mentioned going to Georgia. When I was in New Zealand, I did a story on the coach of the Georgian team, because he was a Kiwi, he was from the area that I was from, and learning a lot about how much the sport is growing in Georgia and how it's nearly on par with soccer in terms of how big it is there, which when you are playing a country like Georgia, which I guess in many levels is kind of similar to Canada and the global rugby side of things, right? It's sort of below the main group of countries. So are those gains when you get those opportunities really important? Because this is where Canada can really show their worth against similar emerging nations that you are kind of competing with to try and be the next big thing in the sport.
ANDREW COE: Absolutely. All those sorts of games. Georgia, Romania. Every time we play the US, it's a battle of who's the top North American team. I feel like it's very important just on the Georgians. You need to kind of be given a cultural background on the team that you're playing. And I felt like we lacked that when we played them because Georgia is a very proud country and a proud team. And there's a lot of guys who, they grew up in some tough situations compared to all of us Canadians who were very fortunate to grow up in a nice ecosystem. So it's very like we need to do a better job of learning about the cultures of the teams that we're playing, regardless of who it is. So that if we can understand the team we're playing, then we can try and make a game plan to fit taking them down so that we can still come on top of the win.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which also then takes you to a country like Georgia, which I can imagine that you never thought, like if somebody said to you, you're going to go to Georgia, you think, cool, I get to go to Atlanta, nice city, why not? But not necessarily to Georgia and Europe, not really a number one travel destination for most Canadians.
ANDREW COE: Before going there, I could not point it out on the map. So it was very, I just got on a flight and didn't really know where I was off to.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which does that make it then unique? I'm not sure how much downtime you would get when you're going to an event like that, but if all of a sudden you've got a couple of hours to spare and you're around Tbilisi or wherever you are just kind of checking out some local Georgian culture it must make it even more unique.
ANDREW COE: Absolutely. Rugby is such a global sport that it's not just Georgia, just taking me all over the world. And it's such an amazing place and there's so many amazing people that you just want to dive into the culture. And even going to Georgia, which isn't the top of my bucket list, I had an amazing time because the people there were quite nice. They want to share that culture with you and our liaison officers do a great job of taking us to good restaurants. This is traditional Georgian food and really showing us the works around the city. That's probably what I'll remember most about my career playing is all the amazing places that I've been to.
BEN WATERWORTH: One of those places right here in Australia, Gold Coast 2018 for the Commonwealth Games. What was that experience like? And also, too, I'm guessing that would probably be your first taste of a multi-sport event because outside of an Olympics, Rugby, what, Pan Ams and Commonwealth Games really isn't it? So to kind of get that whole experience of not only being there for rugby, but you can experience everything that's going on around you with all the other sports too.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, the Commonwealth is a warm up to the Olympics. And I think I was one of two guys on the team who have never been to the multi-sport, a multi-sport games before. And it really, it humbles you quite a bit because you're with all these other amazing athletes and everyone is so focused on their own sort of experience and their own games and their own matches that they have to play that it's unique to see and it's tough to get out of your head while you're there because you're so focused on your own performance. But you really need to make the most out of your times there. But Gold Coast was an amazing place. It had such a good job with the transportation that we could do. The village itself had a barber in there. They had everything you could ask for in there. There was a bar for when people finish, you go drinking at the bar. It was such an amazing experience. It really makes me want to do all the games. I haven't been to a Pan Am game yet. I really want to go to another Olympics. I want to go to the next Commonwealth Games. It really drives that love for those big sporting events.
BEN WATERWORTH: And it's a nice little stadium out there at Rabina as well too, which is one of their little... It was really interesting. I remember when Gold Coast got the Commonwealth Games because the last time we had an Australia, it was in Melbourne, obviously our second biggest city. You've got the MCG, 100,000 people, and it was almost... I think they said it was a bigger event in the city than the 1956 Olympics in terms of competitors and everything along those lines. But then the Gold Coast gets it, and it's sort of... That isn't, I guess, what you would look at the cities of Australia and think that would be a choice for a Commonwealth Games, but it was beautifully held, and the whole area was just so enamoured by having the Commonwealth Games, and it was such a unique atmosphere, because you're in this beautiful part of the country, too. I mean, you've got the beach literally everywhere you look. I mean, and I know, having lived in Canada, golden sand isn't something that exactly exists too much in Canada.
ANDREW COE: No, it's all rocks out here.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's very weird sand. It's like, let's go to the beach. Like, that's not a beach. It's a bunch of rocks in the water. Like, what are you talking about? So how are those? Like, did you get much chance to kind of go to the beach and soak up the Gold Coast?
ANDREW COE: Absolutely. We head down to Surfer's Paradise and we go down the strip there, and it's beautiful, and it's nice to see the entire city bought into the Commonwealth Games. You know, everywhere we go, there's some sort of flyer about something, or there's stuffs on TVs in the bars, and it really bought in. The entire city bought in. But it's such a beautiful place. We came from, it was held in April, so we just had eight months of winter, and then we go there, and we're just thrilled that it's not zero degrees out, even though it's not the best time of the year in Australia. I'm sure there's some Australians looking at us, kind of funny, because we think it's the heat of summer.
BEN WATERWORTH: Living in Queensland in winter, it's hilarious because it will drop below 20, and they'll act like it's cold. I mean, looking at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, they're technically a winter Olympics. It will be Australia's first ever winter Olympics because they're being held in winter. Oh, really? But it's Queensland. They're saying, beautiful one day, perfect the next. That's kind of their slogan. I can't remember the name of it, but did you go to the bar downtown in Surfers? It was like the Team Canada. It was like their little designated bar. Because I remember going there, and I wanted the poutine. I wanted kind of, you know, Naimo bars, and they had them all during the Commonwealth Games.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I remember going to that bar, but we were only there. We went there for just like a meet and greet with fans and stuff like that. So it was a quick, we were in, we were out. We didn't get to really enjoy it that much, but I do remember every place we go to, there seems to be a bunch of Canadians renting out a bar, getting drunk. I don't know if that's good or bad for our look, but I'm here to support it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's good. As an Australian, that's good. That's just a Friday for us. So that's great. You know, that's, you know, kind of, that's happening. At what point sort of, you had the Commonwealth Games, you obviously had the Rugby World Cup in 2019, but was there a point where you're sort of more of a regular on the squad that you kind of assumed that the Olympics would happen? I mean, when the team qualifies, are you then thinking, OK, I'm part of this, this is inevitable, or is it still a case of, no, I can't get complacent, I've got to keep my laurels in place so I can work towards it and get a secure spot to make the Olympic team?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, you could never really rest on your laurels at all. I mean, one through 13 that went to the Olympics, I think there were maybe three guys who you could say have guaranteed spots on the team, and then everyone else, you're fighting and scrapping for everything you can get. With the whole pandemic, we didn't get that many opportunities to showcase our skills. So we had two warm-up tournaments in Dubai, then a local tournament against... It wasn't even a tournament, just a couple of games against a development 15s team, and that was it for selection. So it's very difficult to judge a team based off of, you know, a couple of tournaments compared to a normal year. You would have ten World Series tournaments throughout the year that you can pick guys from. So it was a tough situation, but I'm just thankful that it was able to happen, and the Olympics as a whole were able to happen.
BEN WATERWORTH: And were, in terms of that period where the games were initially postponed and kind of everything, that unsurity, in terms of yourself with training, were you hampered a lot with sort of lockdowns or not being able to access facilities, or were you able to kind of shift some training for yourself at your house or kind of areas where you could maybe go to?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, that was a crazy time. Yeah, so we were locked down right away from March. I think it was the week after the Vancouver Sevens tournament. So middle March, we went straight into lockdown, and we were thankful enough. We have our own gym set up, so we were able to take some of the weights from our gym in Lankford and bring them into our house. And I live with two other guys on the team. So we were able to get enough gym equipment that we could still work out while in lockdown. But it was one of those, we were in limbo. We weren't sure whether the Olympics were going to happen or not. Whether they were going to be postponed, whether they were going to be cancelled. So it was mentally very trying. And we ended up getting an email from the Canadian Olympic Committee just saying, Hey everyone, we've decided to pull out from the Olympics. And I think it was, I can't remember if Australia did it before us or after us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Australia followed just after Canada.
ANDREW COE: You guys pulled out as well. And then once that announcement happened, then the Olympics ended up getting postponed. I remember just I was cooking dinner one night and I was just reading all of the comments on just a Facebook group of, you know, the Olympics have been postponed and all the comments were understandable, but everyone felt really bad for the athletes. And I just remember breaking down in my kitchen because, you know, you never know if, you know, the following year whether they have to postpone it again or what the situation is. So I thought I really lost out on going to an Olympics. But thankfully, you know, shortly after that, we got back into our facility. We got back into training and we were able to start training for the Olympics in 2021.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because it is that unique aspect, which I always am fascinated hearing from particularly our Canadian guests, is that that possibility that the Olympics could have realistically still gone ahead in 2020, had they just gone ahead and all of a sudden Canada said, no, we're not going straight. Obviously, at that point, there was that realistic chance that, as you were saying, an Olympics is going to be happening. And through no fault of your own, you can't go.
ANDREW COE: Absolutely. And it's even up until days before we were leaving to Tokyo in 2021, there's that chance that, well, if something happens, you might not be able to go. Let's say someone gets COVID or you never know what's happening behind closed doors with the Olympic Committee, whether they're deciding whether to go ahead or not. It was definitely not a normal year in terms of preparation, because you at any point could have just not gone. Yeah, which is crazy. Even when you got there, everyone was very hyper diligent with rules and regulations, because for us, we flew in, played our games, and flew out right away. But some people were weeks in advance before they performed their sport. And if they got COVID a week out from their sport, they were screwed for not getting able to play. So there was always that fear that if something happens, they won't be able to play.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which is really fascinating, actually, you mentioned that, because the seventh program at the Olympics is very quick. It's played over a couple of days. And the men's tournament was right at the beginning. So as you were saying, you're literally in and out. So while at the Commonwealth Games, obviously different circumstances in the world, but you can kind of play your tournament in the lead up afterwards and soak in going to a bar, going to the beach, things like that. Here, it's almost like you're just kind of being ferried in, right? Sleep here, throw a ball here, get back on the plane, piss off. So can you really even soak in what it is like to be in an Olympics at that point? Or was it just so weird that you couldn't really take that aspect in?
ANDREW COE: Well, I'm going to have to go to the next one to figure it out, to compare it, right?
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect, yeah.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, it was so... We were originally supposed to show up in Japan two weeks before the tournament so that we can get acclimatised and get used to the Japan humidity. But because of COVID, we decided that we're going to fly in three days before we play. So we were there three days before. We played over three days, and then we flew out the day after. So we were only in Japan for a week. And I knew going in, and my parents kept telling me, you know, go take photos, enjoy the experience, like get as much out of it as you can. And I was able to do that in our, you know, six days that we were there. But it still doesn't compare to, you know, what a normal Olympics will feel like. So I'm definitely going to have to go to the next one to figure it out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect excuse, right, to kind of do that. Just quickly, when you officially knew, I mean, obviously, we're just talking a little bit there about how there was still unsurity on that, but when you were announced, you knew you were in that squad and you were going to Tokyo. Does that hit you at that moment that you're an Olympian? Does it when you line up on that first game and you get your uniform kind of, at what point does all of a sudden you go, shit, I'm an Olympian?
ANDREW COE: Well, I was in a bit of a unique situation. So the team got announced and there were 13 of us, but I was the 13th man. And in, yeah, in the, at the time when that announcement happened, I was under the, I assumed that the 13th man didn't get to play. So I knew I was flying to Japan, but I thought that there was no chance I would be able to play unless, you know, God forbid somebody got injured before the tournament. So I originally thought that I wasn't going to be able to play and I wasn't going to be an Olympian. So that was quite difficult for me to take, and that was a pretty, pretty dark time. And thankfully, you know, my friends and my family were there to support me with that. And then over the next couple weeks, rules started changing that, OK, now if you're 13th man and someone goes down in the tournament, I was able to play. And that gave me, you know, a little bit more positive headspace. And then it turned into, OK, if you're, it's just a squad of 13 and 12 get to get picked for each game. And that still like gave me more positive, positive mindset, but I still couldn't get on the field. Like, I don't know whether I would get on the field or not. So it wasn't until I got on the field against New Zealand, where I figured out, or it was Japan, sorry, that I knew that I was an Olympian. And all the emotions sort of hit me that night after that Japan game. And, you know, things worked out where I was able to play, and then that's when I sort of broke down, that, you know, I did something very special.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's unique to go through those emotions, because, as you're saying, I mean, there was every realistic chance that you're just there, and you're there to play. You know, it's all well and good to be wearing the uniform and being in an Olympic Games, but at the end of the day, if you're not competing, that's not what you're there for. So that's a pretty incredible story to think, that you went through those roller coasters of sort of achieving the dream, but not really, and then all of a sudden getting it all ticked off in that game.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, and the worst part of it was, even when I was 13th man, my only hope of getting onto the field was if one of my friends, one of my teammates, gets injured and it takes away from their dream. So it was a weird, weird mindset to be at where I have to keep training, keep trying to be at the top of my game knowing that I'm only going to get on if somebody else gets injured. So it was very tough to think of it that way, because I never want to see any of my friends get hurt, any of my teammates get hurt. But thankfully, everything worked out for itself.
BEN WATERWORTH: So that moment then, I mean, just quickly back to the World Cup in 2019, you score a try against Italy. What do you take on board more as a personal achievement, lining up at an Olympic Games, playing in the Olympics, or I mean, scoring a try at a World Cup must be a pretty special feeling. I mean, can you kind of compare each of them and take one higher than the other?
ANDREW COE: I don't know. They're both very special to me. You know, the try that I scored against Italy was in that moment, I felt on top of the world and thought that, you know, I've done it. I've accomplished everything I've wanted to accomplish until I went to the Olympics and got onto the field then. Then I said to myself, all right, you've done it. You've done what you've always wanted to do. So it's kind of, I don't know, it's incremental. And, you know, scoring the try against Italy, going to a World Cup, playing against South Africa, who ended up winning the World Cup, playing against New Zealand. Just being there was pretty special. Then going to the Olympics in the same country, Japan, is also just a lifetime achievement. So I should apply to be Japanese citizenship at this point, because I'm all on board. The people of Japan are amazing. They host amazing events. You know, I want to go back to Japan just to visit and see all that Japan has to offer.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, if I'm not mistaken, the next Rugby World Cup is also in France, and then the Olympics in France, right? So it's kind of this weird six degrees of separation where you have a World Cup in the same country as the year before the Olympics.
ANDREW COE: But yeah, it's gonna have to do that as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's great. Because I think Australia, I think, are bidding for these at the 2028 World Cup. Maybe we need to push it back to the... Sorry, the 2027. We should push back to 2031, so that then they're the year before the Brisbane Olympics. So therefore, that kind of just keeps the Australian. So the US should host the 2027 World Cup. So we just kind of keep this weird pattern going.
ANDREW COE: Because LA is the 2028 Olympics. Again, I'll write an email to the people in charge.
BEN WATERWORTH: You've got better connections than I do, Andrew. So I feel like we can kind of take this advice and run with it, right? We'll see. It kind of plays. And also on that note, you mentioned you have South Africa in your group. They go on to win. You have Fiji in your group at the Olympics, and they go on to win. Now, that game was pretty epic for Canada up against Fiji. I mean, you were leading, if I'm not mistaken, at one point, were you not? And only lose the game 28 to 14 against the reigning champions, eventually be champions. I mean, how big of a game was that for the team? And then that ultimately leads into that Japan game where you play and you do enough to make it through the quarterfinals. But that performance against Fiji, I can imagine the mood amongst the camp despite losing must have been pretty high to take it up to the Fijians that way.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I mean, we were pretty disappointed with how we played against Great Britain. We came out very flat and didn't put a good showing in. So we knew that if we wanted a shot at getting through to the quarters and getting a medal, we were going to have to put two good performances against Fiji and Japan. Unfortunately for us, we were able to do that. Then it was a nail biter for us watching that Kenya and Ireland game. Just so we had to go through on points differential, and we didn't have the game live. No one could watch it live, but we're just refreshing our Twitter feeds, trying to see what the score is at, what's going on. Because we needed, I think it was we needed Kenya to win or by less than five or less than seven, something like that, in order for us to get in. And then they ended up winning by five. And we just, once that news came in, the whole team thought they were on top of the world, because we still had a shot at winning a medal.
BEN WATERWORTH: And was that the goal? Was that sort of you all went into Tokyo with medal on the mind?
ANDREW COE: Yep, absolutely. Similar to the women's team, what they did in Rio with getting a bronze medal, we just thought, why not? Why can't we do that? Sevens is one of those sports where anything can happen. The last World Series Tournament in Vancouver, we ended up winning bronze, and we took down Fiji, we took down South Africa, and ended up getting bronze medal. So we were right there for the taking.
BEN WATERWORTH: This is why I love Sevens. I come from not really a rugby part of Australia. I'm more in the Australian football part of the country, which doesn't mean I still don't follow rugby. Obviously, I still love the sport. But I always like watching rugby at the Olympics more, because it is that competitive nature where I can see a Canada winner medal. I can see Fiji. I can see these nations, whereas, again, as I said before, realistically, I'm not going to see Canada go on to a rugby World Cup final. It's not really going to happen. So it is that excitement, I feel, that Sevens brings of that competitive nature, so that An Olympics is a little bit more open.
ANDREW COE: Exactly. And look at the RG's. The RG's are, you know, they're a good team. They're around eighth in the world, normally, on the World Series. And then they come out and get a bronze medal and put up a performance of their lifetime out there, get a bronze medal. That story is unbelievable. And that's what Sevens is, you know. Anyone can win on any day. But vice versa, anyone can lose on any day as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I've got to say, as an Australian, it's pretty exciting to see not only New Zealand lose the gold, but then Britain lose the bronze. We can't complain. The quarterfinal though against New Zealand, again, similar to, I guess, Fiji, you really did take it up to them at that point. I mean, obviously, you say the goal is to win a medal. I can't imagine it's not disappointment. But again, can you reflect on it now that some time has passed and again think, well, we took it up to one of the best teams in the world and very nearly the result could have gone a different way?
ANDREW COE: Like, yeah, I'm so proud of everyone just for the eight months previous to the Olympics leading up and then ending up going to the Olympics and taking it to Fiji, taking it to New Zealand. Yeah, I'm so proud of every one of those guys who put in a lot of years to get to that point. So we all need to be damn proud of what we did out there.
BEN WATERWORTH: How do you back it up when it like this is one of these unique things about sevens and some of these sports at the Olympics where you get eliminated from medal contention, but you still then let's play for fifth. I mean, do you give a shit? Like, I mean, do you go out there and kind of go, I really couldn't give it a shit where we finish. Or is it really a case of OK, well, we're eliminated. We can't win a medal. We're going to do the best we can to finish the highest we can at this tournament.
ANDREW COE: Oh, we definitely care, because it goes. It's not. I mean, yes, it's awesome to get a medal, but us performing better at the Olympics also means us getting more funding from the government to give us better resources. So we were still fighting for being able to say we were fifth place team at the Olympics. You know, instead of being an eighth place team. So we're still fighting for those last couple games, because you never know what's going to happen. But those two games, we kind of thought less about the outcome and more about just enjoying and leaving it all out there for each other, because we all knew, you know, that group has been together for the past, you know, seven, eight years. And we knew that a bunch of guys were going to retire and that it would be their last time ever playing for Canada. So it was quite emotional, and we all wanted to put in a good showing for each other.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I don't know if this is the part where, as an Australian, I'm meant to apologise for the fact that I don't know. Do I need to, Andrew? I can, if you want.
ANDREW COE: Couldn't have asked for more.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, we got revenge. The girls beat the US in the fifth. So I guess kind of you're welcome on that side of things.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, thanks. Thanks.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that kind of works.
ANDREW COE: It's even. It's even now.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, as long as the Americans are the key.
ANDREW COE: We have Australia in our pool in Dubai in a couple months. So if you want to talk to them, say, you know, maybe take it easy, make sure that we get through to the corners, that would be good.
BEN WATERWORTH: I will hook you up. I don't know how my connections kind of play on that one, but I'll definitely see what I can do there. So, I mean, moving forward, you've also got, you know, Dubai, World Series and that sort of stuff, but Commonwealth Games in 2022. And then, as you mentioned a few times, sort of Paris, kind of these are sort of the goals that you keep kind of working towards now.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, absolutely. It's a new group of guys, you know, from the team at the Olympics. There's only five returning players and everyone else is new. So it'll be good. It'll be definitely a learning curve for a lot of people going from playing club rugby straight into, all right, now we're in Dubai, playing in front of a ton of fans. But this year will be... There's 12 tournaments. There's the 10 World Series tournaments and there's Commonwealth Games. And then I believe there's also the World Cup of Sevens down in South Africa next September, I want to say. So there's a ton of rugby to be played and all these young guys are just itching to get out there and put a good showing for it so that we can do a bit better than we did at the Olympics in Paris.
BEN WATERWORTH: And with how the scene is now, do you still keep an eye on the 2023 World Cup or is this sort of you mainly focus on the sevens? I mean, is it possible to kind of be able to focus on both or does it come to a point where you can kind of only really choose one over the other?
ANDREW COE: Well, unfortunately, Canada lost to Chile a couple of weeks ago in World Cup qualifications. So Canada won't be at the 2023 World Cup in France.
BEN WATERWORTH: I didn't know that. That's got to be one of the first times in a while. I feel Canada is always the first. Yeah.
ANDREW COE: This is the first time they've ever not been to a World Cup.
BEN WATERWORTH: And to Chile. I didn't even realise Chile played rugby. No, thanks. I know.
ANDREW COE: The Chileans put on a very good showing. Over the past year, they've taken down an Argentina A team. They took down a Georgia team, I believe. So they've been really up and coming. And yeah, unfortunately, that means that we lost out on a World Cup spot.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, obviously, you don't want to miss out on a World Cup. That's obviously very disappointing. But in some weird way, can that then, now that the country can switch purely focus on, say, the 2024 Olympics, do you think in some weird way that can help? Or are the 15s and 7s so separate that that doesn't really affect the 7s program?
ANDREW COE: It shouldn't affect the 7s program too much. You know, I'm pretty biased. But, you know, I think that they should switch focus and try and get people into 7s and try and buy in on the 7s side of the game, because, you know, there's still an opportunity for us to go to the Olympics compared to a World Cup. But I know Rugby Canada, from their perspective, they value the 15s game a lot more than they value the 7s game. So we still haven't really seen how it's going to play out in terms of, you know, looking forward and decision making over the next five years to see where Rugby Canada is going to put their money. But yeah, only time will tell what they decide. I don't make those decisions. Those are above my pay grade.
BEN WATERWORTH: Watch this, but they're not the connections you have yet, right?
ANDREW COE: No, not yet. They don't listen to me. I try and try and tell them stuff, but they don't listen to me too often.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, Andrew, we like to close out with a few kind of random fun, get to know you style questions. Before I do a couple of things I want to just touch on now. I think in Australia, when Australians think of Canadian rugby players, we think of a certain Mike Pike, who obviously famously scored a try against the All Blacks in a World Cup and came out to Australia, won a premiership for the Sydney Swans in Australian football, and the rest is history. Have you ever kind of been swayed by the Mike Pike story to think that maybe you could come out to Australia and give a crack at Australian football? Because we're pretty good success rate in Australia, one for one, from Canadian rugby players who have scored tries at the World Cup. So just saying, you could come out to Australia and try it.
ANDREW COE: I'm into it. Yeah, for sure. We should definitely do that. I'll look at flights today and we'll see when I can come down there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Have you ever seen Australian football before?
ANDREW COE: Not live. I'd love to go live. But I remember in high school, we had a couple of Australians come in and teach us for a gym class one time. And that was a ton of fun doing speckies off each other's speckies, right?
BEN WATERWORTH: You've got the terminology down, Pat. Exactly.
ANDREW COE: I'm halfway there.
BEN WATERWORTH: You are. You are. Which I mean, it's actually fascinating because right now, one of, I guess, the biggest international players in the league is a guy called Mason Cox. He's American, and he plays basically for the biggest club. It'd be like if an Australian went and played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. You go straight to the biggest club essentially and play. And he got a lot of press over the last few years. He had a very famous game, put the team into the championship game a couple of years ago, but he's never won a premiership. He's never won the ultimate goal, whereas Mike Pike did. I mean, I famously remember in 2012, Sydney won the grand final and same colours as a Canadian flag, red and white. So it's perfect draped around his shoulders. So I feel Australians need to get on board more with the fact that I believe he was the first ever international player to win a premiership, a Canadian. So it's a good, it's a good strike rate. And Bugga Mason and the Americans, we're going to one up them. So, and I'm just saying that the team behind me there, Carlton, come play for us. We need some good players.
ANDREW COE: Amen. You talk to the coach over there, but that just goes to show, you know, another Canadian doing something better than an American.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. That's what we want to hear, right? That's all we want to keep hearing that. Another thing too, I read that whenever you travel somewhere, you have to go to a Starbucks and take a photo. Now, is this true and how did this come about? How did this come about?
ANDREW COE: You would be shocked at how much coffee guys drink on tour. It is, especially on 15s tours, the amount of coffee that some of, especially the big boys drink is astounding. And I kind of figured, without really thinking about it too much, I've gone to a Starbucks almost everywhere that I go. And then a couple years ago, I kind of realised like, I always go to Starbucks. So we, Phil, my roommate, is actually going around and there's this Starbucks traveller mugs.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yep, yep.
ANDREW COE: And he's trying to get one of those traveller mugs from everywhere that he goes. He's got a couple places right now. So he's going to collect his Starbucks stars and spend those to get a traveller mug.
BEN WATERWORTH: And yours is just a photo, so you don't go out of your way to get the...
ANDREW COE: Mine's just a photo. Mine's just a photo.
BEN WATERWORTH: So how many have you... Do you tick them off? Like have you got a list of how many you've been to now?
ANDREW COE: I don't have a list, but I think, you know, Georgia, I'm not entirely sure whether they have Starbucks in Georgia, but I definitely didn't go to one in Georgia, but almost everywhere else, I've been to a Starbucks, I think.
BEN WATERWORTH: So you did the Surfers, you did the... I'm guessing you did the Gold Coast.
ANDREW COE: Yep, yep, yep.
BEN WATERWORTH: And do you count them like the... Like there's a few in Victoria, so do you go to Langford? Do you then go out to Mayfair and kind of just tick off the local ones while you're there?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, we can. I'm a regular at this spot. Baron Joe, we actually own by an Australian guy here in Victoria. So I'm a regular there, so I don't want to cheat on him. I'm going to go to a Starbucks. But yeah, I'm a big coffee guy. I'm going to make a list. We were down in Seattle playing the US two and a half years ago, and the one thing I wanted to do was I had to go to the original Starbucks. The original one. And we ended up doing it, and I took more than enough photos for a lifetime.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you have to line up? There's always a line around the block, isn't there, to kind of get in there?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like a reserve one. Yeah, it was...
BEN WATERWORTH: I remember it, and they come up to you, don't they, because they're like, are you here for coffee or merchandise? I swear they ask you. And I remember going, can I not have both? Or do I have to choose? Do I have to buy coffee, then re-line up to buy a mug?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I remember going in there, and I kind of wanted a special one, like an original... So I asked them, hey, do you have any special ones, or is this the regular Starbucks menu? And they said, no, it's the original Starbucks menu. I was like, okay, that's not that special.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's not that great. It's funny, actually, when you... The US is interesting when it comes to these first. I remember being in Salt Lake City, and the world's first KFC is in Salt Lake... It's not even in frickin Kentucky. You would think, but the first ever KFC is actually in Salt Lake City. So, it's weird that you kind of tick those things off. It's funny you mentioned coffee. I never thought I would miss coffee in North America. I used to travel to North America and go, shit coffee. Like, seriously, Americans and Canadians do not know how to make coffee. But I got so used to drinking my iced coffees with cream that you just cannot find it in Australia. Like, I go to McDonald's on the summer drink days in Canada and just get my dollar, you know, large coffee. Boom, iced coffee, cream, perfect. Here, they stare at you like, cream, do you mean milk? I'm like, no, no, no, cream, cream. Oh, no, we don't do that. They look at you like you're speaking another language. I miss that about Canada.
ANDREW COE: We'll send you, I'll send you a couple of bottles of cream.
BEN WATERWORTH: Please do. I'm sure it will last the journey, right? I feel you need to start like a separate Instagram or something for your Starbucks photos.
ANDREW COE: I was doing that for a little bit. I was doing a Coe's Coffee Corner is what it was called. And I was taking photos, not necessarily Starbucks, but coffee places around the world that I've been to. And then I'm slowly kind of merged it with my actual Instagram page. So now I just post all that on my actual Instagram page, but we haven't travelled in a bit. So I haven't been able to show off my coffee experiences.
BEN WATERWORTH: I feel like I just need to ask this, Dan, a question. How do you take your coffee? What's your go-to order?
ANDREW COE: Right now, I'm big on oat milk lattes.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, okay.
ANDREW COE: Yeah. I normally get Americano Misto, so just Americano with a bit of steamed milk on top. But I'm not too picky. I'll take it however they want to give it to me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I just want to pass on another note just for Canadians, Americans, any part of the world that make the flat white incorrectly. Flat white has no foam. That's why it's called a flat white. So stop putting foam on flat white Starbucks. It's not a thing.
ANDREW COE: You heard it here first.
BEN WATERWORTH: It was actually hilarious. I remember when it made the news in Australia when Starbucks started doing the flat white. We literally sent Australian journalists to New York to get it, because it's a very Australian drink, the flat white. And basically, the first story was like, this isn't a flat white, there's foam on it. Like, you're doing it wrong, America. Yeah, just got to point it out there. Andrew, as I said, we wrap up each interview with a series of fun, get to know you style questions. Now, as always, we use these from a questionnaire that Team Canada gave their athletes ahead of the Rio and Pyeongchang Olympics. As we're aware, they didn't do this for you guys ahead of Tokyo. Now, I'm using this off a fellow rugby player. I've got Bianca Forella. Are you familiar with Bianca at all? There you go. So I can tell you what she's answered if you want to know as well.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, we can compare.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. And as always, there is a, if you want to, homework. There's a drawing element. If you really want to draw shit, you can. We can put it on our social media. If not, it's fine. The first one here is literally draw a picture of yourself. And Bianca's drawn a circle with some squiggly lines, which I'm thinking is meant to be a head with a smiley face on it.
ANDREW COE: I can almost guarantee she would draw better than I can.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, well, now I'm kind of intrigued to see just exactly what you draw. First question, if you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be?
ANDREW COE: Oh, it's got to go back to Toronto. I'm from Toronto, and they have never hosted an Olympics, and I think it would be an amazing spot for a Summer Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: Came very close in 2008, so it's sort of one of those. Just on that, and I don't know if this will be on this list, but there's usually a question of growing up, who was your favourite sports team? So are you a Leafs guy?
ANDREW COE: Absolutely, yeah. I'm unfortunately a Leafs guy, so I go through the same struggles every year. I think they're going to go to win a cup, but they always lose in the first round. So I'm on board for being a Leafs fan this year, and we're probably going to lose, but I'm ready to be hurt again.
BEN WATERWORTH: My co-host, Colin, is a massive Leafs fan, so I like to give him shit. I'm a co-flamed Ducks fan, but if you look behind me, I do have the Raptors, so I do at least... You know, somewhat Toronto, so kind of go that way. In your spare time, what do you most like to do?
ANDREW COE: Big Netflix person. I love watching almost any show. Netflix, Crave, HBO. If anyone has any show recommendations, do you have any show recommendations? I'm here on all years.
BEN WATERWORTH: Are you purely just like fiction or do you like documentaries as well?
ANDREW COE: I like it all. I love trashy reality TV. I love dark dramas. I love murder mystery. I love everything.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great. Well, I mean, I'm a massive Formula One fan. If you've never checked out F1 Drive To Survive.
ANDREW COE: I think they should do one of those for the seven series. I think that would do very well.
BEN WATERWORTH: 100%. I mean, that's the great thing about Netflix. I mean, there's so many different sporting documentaries now that they can do. And it's sort of... I agree. I think that would be fantastic. I mean, seeing F1 is growing in North America because of Drive To Survive. So why not do this for a sport like rugby, which has already got probably more of an impact on the continent and grow up more.
ANDREW COE: I'll add it to the list of people I need to email.
BEN WATERWORTH: Please. You're going to be very busy after this interview, I feel like.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, I am. I am. A lot of emails to send.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I didn't think you were expecting this from doing this chat basically. The weirdest instruction a coach ever gave you was.
ANDREW COE: Oh, man. Try not to sewer any of my coaches here.
BEN WATERWORTH: So I mean, kind of, you know, you've started.
ANDREW COE: I remember we were in.
BEN WATERWORTH: Where were we?
ANDREW COE: We were Romania, I think. On like an under under 17, under 19 tour, something like that. And the food that we were getting wasn't the best food. You know, lots of guys were going hungry. We were getting very basic stuff. And then our strength and conditioning coach said, go out, eat some McDonald's, just get as much calories into you as you can. And that is the only time I've ever heard any strength and conditioning coach say, go out and get fast food. I'm going to hold that to... Any time I eat fast food, I'm going to say, well, that's my one strength and conditioning coach said that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, bloody hell, either that or just always want to play in Romania. I'm like, fuck, I can eat McDonald's all I want.
ANDREW COE: She'll go play over there.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Go over there and play in the leagues and stuff like that. McDonald's all the time. Coach says it's OK. That works. What is your favourite workout?
ANDREW COE: Workout. I love doing those spin classes. You know, the ride spin classes, because there's just music blasting. It's very dark in there. You can't really see anyone, so it's only you who you're kind of racing against. And it's very like it's very dancey in there. It's like a club, but you're on a bike.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, more of them should exist, right? Bikes and clubs, like that's a thing. Exactly. Add it to the list, homework, do some research. It's a long list. Make the Langford nightlife a thing, right? You know?
ANDREW COE: Exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: Going out that way and going to bike nightclubs, that kind of works. If you could have lunch with any one person, who would it be?
ANDREW COE: Lunch with any one person. Well, it's got to be the most famous person right now, Dwayne The Rock Johnson. One, because I want to see how much he eats, because I'm sure that guy could take down a lot of food. And two, I want to talk to him about all the bad movies that he's made.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's a long conversation.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, how is he picking these movies? It's a numbers game. He just sprays out movies and hopes one of them hits.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's kind of worse that way. And I guess with his heritage, get him into rugby. I know he played American football, but I mean, he's got Samoan heritage. So I'm sure there's got to be some rugby somewhere in his family.
ANDREW COE: I'm sure there is. I remember in Vancouver a couple of years ago, we usually have a famous guest show up, and Jason Momoa was our famous guest. He had his All Blacks jersey on. He was so pumped just to be there and watch rugby. It looked like he had the time of his life. So I'm sure, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, if you're listening, we'd love to have you, Vancouver Sevens, in March. We'd love you to be there.
BEN WATERWORTH: We actually always, funnily enough, you mentioned Jason Momoa. We always give a shout out to Jason Momoa on the show. We had a guest who just randomly midway through an answer was just like, hey, special shout out to Jason Momoa. So as always, hello, Jason Momoa. If you listen, we'll add The Rock to that list.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, The Rock and Jason Momoa.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just big time.
ANDREW COE: That's funny that I brought him up without you telling me that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Look, I don't want to give all our secrets away, Andrew. Like, come on. Like, you know, got to keep some things mysterious. Just also, Bianca answered Channing Tatum. So the next question, well, the next sort of thing here is draw a picture of a Canadian animal. And she's again drawn a very, I'm guessing that's a moose. I'm hoping it's a moose. Maybe we can clarify that. Your favourite sandwich is?
ANDREW COE: Oh, my goodness. We used to go, there was a tournament down in Vina del Mar in Chile, and we would stay at this hotel, and they had the best club sandwiches I have ever had in my life. Unbelievable club sandwich. So that has to be top of the list. Anytime I'm down there, for whatever reason, I'm down in Chile, I have to go and get a club sandwich from there.
BEN WATERWORTH: And that's why they ended up knocking you guys out of the World Cup. The Rugby World Cup. Good sandwiches.
ANDREW COE: Yep. More club sandwiches in 15s will lead to better results.
BEN WATERWORTH: Again, put it on the list. Put it up to the high.
ANDREW COE: Put it on the list.
BEN WATERWORTH: Keep coming up there.
ANDREW COE: We're going to solve world hunger by the end of this.
BEN WATERWORTH: I know the UN should be listening to this, I feel. They really should. This is going well. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
ANDREW COE: I would like to teleport. That would be cool, because then I can just teleport down to Chile and get that club sandwich. Exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: And be home for lunch to eat it. You also answered teleportation, so it's a rugby mindset. The best candy in the world is?
ANDREW COE: The best candy would be, well, it's getting around Halloween, so the Pillsbury Sugar Cookies are probably top of my list right now. But also there's this Canadian brand called OMGs, and they're like a toffee chocolate score, graham cracker, little crumble thing, and they're very good.
BEN WATERWORTH: I always regret asking these questions because it just makes me hungry. So it's like, why do I answer these? Now, we already asked this one, the favourite sports team. I'll say that Bianca says the Montreal Canadiens, so hello, Ryan. Just on that, though, just on the rugby side of things, do you follow, I mean, outside of the international things, like do you pay attention to say Super Rugby sort of in the Southern Hemisphere or kind of anything along those lines and go for teams in any of those competitions?
ANDREW COE: Well, I try and follow all the Canadian guys. So if there's a Canadian guy playing somewhere, I'll follow them. So in Super Rugby, Arjun was with the Chiefs for a while, so I tried to follow the Chiefs for a little bit. There's two Canadians. Arjun now plays for Cast in France. So does a buddy of mine, Matt Tierney. So I try and follow them a little bit. But for the most part, it's mostly where Canadians go to play.
BEN WATERWORTH: I've got a good friend, co-host, in one of my other shows. He lives in Waikato. He's a Chiefs man. But I lived in Iwakago, so we were Highlanders territory. So it's weird as an Australian that I go for a New Zealand team. But coming from the part of Australia that I'm from, we don't really have a team that I can go for. So I'm like, well, I lived in an area, Highlanders could go to the games. So I might not jump on board with it. Do you ever pay attention to rugby league? Is that a thing that you even acknowledge? Do you look at something like the NRL or what they have, the Super League in the UK? Or is it just completely foreign?
ANDREW COE: Not really. Like I see all the highlights on my Instagram. I see like what's going on. But in terms of following it, I couldn't tell you who's won the last couple. Yeah, not particularly now.
BEN WATERWORTH: Get on board the Sharks just in the NRL.
ANDREW COE: Big Sharks fan now.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, go Sharks. Up the Sharks. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
ANDREW COE: That is a tough question. I would like to say... Oh man, I don't know. Italy seems nice. I've never been to Italy in my life, but it seems like a beautiful place with lots of culture, very good food, good coffee. Relax, good coffee.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
ANDREW COE: Let's go with that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Sure, sure. Bianca says New Zealand. I don't know if I should be impressed or offended.
ANDREW COE: Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: You know, I always like this question because it can go any different direction. When I was little, what was one thing I always thought?
ANDREW COE: The thing I always thought. Oh, geez. I was a pretty wild child.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm looking for some wild answers now. That excites me even more.
ANDREW COE: I feel like when I was younger, there wasn't a lot of thinking being done.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, there's the answer. I didn't think. I just did.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, exactly. I would run my head into things. Which probably explains a lot.
BEN WATERWORTH: Why you were getting yellow and red cards and going to rugby.
ANDREW COE: Exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: You just wanted to hit people and run into things.
ANDREW COE: I'd run my head into all. I used to just run my head into my mum all the time, and she would hate it. Rightfully so, but I would just always do that.
BEN WATERWORTH: They might do a head scan of you one point and look at this. Oh, your concussion, not from your rugby days. It's from headbutting my mum all the time.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: Where did that come from, basically?
ANDREW COE: Yeah, that's where the whole rugby started.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, the final one here, again, this is one that you've already got or you don't. Like, I feel this is kind of one way or the other. What is your favourite joke to tell?
ANDREW COE: The one I usually go to, my go-to is, there's a German ship off the German coast, and he ends up hitting a rock, and he starts going down, and the captain of the ship grabs the mic and just goes, help, help, I'm sinking, I'm sinking. And then the coast guard, German coast guard grabs the mic and messages back, what, what are you sinking about? That's it, that's it.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm gonna clap that, that's pretty good. I like that one, that's very good.
ANDREW COE: That's the only one I got.
BEN WATERWORTH: Use it, that works. Bianca's is, what's orange and sounds like a parrot?
ANDREW COE: What's orange and sounds like a parrot? I have no idea.
BEN WATERWORTH: A carrot.
ANDREW COE: I mean, that's a good one. Dad jokes always hit.
BEN WATERWORTH: Jesus, rugby players are great comedians. I feel that we need to go on that. Andrew, before we let's go, you mentioned before about Instagram, tag Instagram, social media, anything you want to plug, where people can sort of follow your journey towards Paris and beyond.
ANDREW COE: Absolutely. Andrew Coe with two E's, that's Andrew C-O-E-E on Instagram and Twitter. I'm not well versed enough in social media to have TikTok, so I'm sorry all the TikTok fans. It's just Instagram and Twitter.
BEN WATERWORTH: One day, one day. Again, as I always say, my dad joke for that is, I thought TikTok was a Kesha song, so.
ANDREW COE: Yeah, that's a good one, too.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's all I know it from. Andrew, seriously, it's been a lot of fun learning about your career, the sport in Canada, everything else in between. I'm sorry I've given you so much homework, but at least we can get some Starbucks love out there. And yeah, teach them more about flat lights and how to make it. Yeah, hell yeah. I would never say no to Mr. Schultz and giving us a couple of million bucks. That would be handy right about now, right?
ANDREW COE: Absolutely.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks to Andrew for his time. A lot of fun. Always like to give people homework on this show, apparently. So, there you go. And glad we got the Jason Momoa shout out done already. Might have to add the rock to that, apparently. So, we're gonna end up saying hello to a lot of these people moving forward, I think. But big thanks to Andrew for his time. Got some more great interviews coming your way, of course. Here and off the podium, obviously. Not quite as frequent as we had before the Beijing Games, but we are still pumping out the content to keep you entertained. Best way to stay tuned to all of these chats is by hitting us up on social media. Search for Off The Podium, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and subscribe to the show, where all good podcasts are available. Simply search for Off The Podium. And while you're there, hit the subscribe button, review us, leave us some feedback, everything else in between. We'd love to hear what you're thinking of the show. Once again, thanks, Andrew. Thanks to you for listening. Another shout out to Jason Momoa and The Rock, because why not? And as always, remember to go left.
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