Josh Sutcliffe enters his sixth season as director of rugby and head coach at Stanford.
Stanford Women’s Rugby finished 2019-20 as regular season winners of the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference - West Division before covid halted the Cardinal season with a 7-1 record. The season was ended before the conference play-offs where the Cardinal were the #1 seed. SWR was building on a solid fall Sevens and finished runners-up in the Pacific Western Conference 7s Championship.
The 2018-19 campaign finished with the Cardinal finishing making the USA Rugby College Fifteens National quarterfinal, where they were eliminated by eventual champion BYU.
Under his guidance, Stanford Women’s Rugby has been to the USA Rugby College Fifteens Final Four in 2017, USA Rugby College Fifteens National Playoffs in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In 2016, the Cardinal finished 4th in the USA Rugby College 7s National Championships.
Sutcliffe returned to The Farm in 2015 after a stint with USA Rugby as the Director of Coach Development with USA Rugby. A role that comprised overseeing the coaching pathway for USA Rugby including the certification process and the creation of the Elite Coach Development Pathway.
From 2005-2008, Sutcliffe worked as an Assistant Coach under Jonathan Griffin. He helped guide the Cardinal to National Championships in 2006 and 2008. During this period, Sutcliffe was appointed as an assistant coach for the USA Women’s U23 Development 7s team and head coach for the Pacific Coast Grizzlies Women’s U23 Fifteens. This period saw the identification and development of future Women’s National Team players Vix Folayan ‘06 and Jossy Tseng ’08.
Sutcliffe played his university rugby for Adelaide University RUFC and earned selection for the Australian Universities XV in 2003. He earned his first international cap playing for the Philippines Men’s National Fifteens in 2007 and continued to play until his retirement in 2011. In domestic competition, he capped his 17 seasons of senior rugby with the 2015 PRP Championship with the Glendale Raptors.
Sutcliffe and his wife, Julie, reside in Palo Alto, CA with their three daughters Brynn, Hadley and Kenna.
