Former England captain Sarah Hunter has hailed World Rugby’s high performance academy as a “brilliant initiative” for the women’s game.
Hunter was among 16 aspiring female coaches to emerge through the inaugural programme last year, which saw them being embedded with their respective nations before and during the WXV tournament in New Zealand.
There were also a series of online and in-person workshops that apart from rugby also looked at areas such as cultural elements, building relationships and campaign planning.
Hunter is now part of England’s coaching team preparing for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, which kicks off on March 23.
And World Rugby has a target of seeing women make up a minimum 40 per cent of all coaches involved at the England-hosted 2025 World Cup that sees Twickenham staging the final.
Year two of the Gallagher High Performance Academy will feature 10 sevens coaches, including Saracens full-back Sarah McKenna and Leinster wing Emily McKeown, participating in a programme now extended to all formats of the women’s game.
“Having been part of it, World Rugby and Gallagher have brought to life what they said they wanted to do,” Hunter told the PA news agency.
“It is a brilliant initiative, one that has been about making really positive change and immersing coaches within high performance teams.”
Hunter retired from playing in 2023 after winning a world record 141 caps. She led England to World Cup glory in 2014 and was named women’s world player of the year two years later.
“The last six years of my playing career I was player-coach at Loughborough Lightning, where I looked after the forwards, so I have always had a real passion to try and help people get better,” she added.
“I was probably teeing myself up for some kind of coaching job, but I had no idea it would be the role I am currently doing.
“Having been a very recent former player, I’ve got a good understanding of how players want to be coached because I’ve heard many a time about what was right, what was wrong, what could be better, so I’ve tried to remember that.
“The game has changed significantly, and it is about having opportunities for females. It is such an exciting time for the game, so let’s be really ambitious, keep setting targets.
“Knowing the talent that is out there and having sat as part of the high performance academy, their knowledge of the game is incredible. These people can make a significant difference to their teams.
“A lot of the players have an interest in coaching, and if we are creating more opportunities we are going to be keeping more great people within the game. Hopefully, people can see the impact the academy is having.”
Jo Yapp, who had a 12-year England playing career, recently became the first female head coach of Australia’s women’s rugby union team, and it is that level of progression Hunter believes the academy can help underpin.
“Hopefully, the way in which the academy works, the major outcome goal with that is to transition those candidates who are on it in to those coaching roles,” she said.
“We have already seen something like a 20 per cent uplift of people going into coaching roles in different unions, and it is really important to have ambitious targets.
“It means people have to make change and people have to be seen to be making change, so it puts pressure on governing bodies around the world. Let’s set the bar high and let’s strive for it.
“What would be brilliant is almost changing perception. We’ve got brilliant female coaches out there around the world and they probably just need a bit of a nudge of ‘right, you’re in’. And when they are in, people see how good they are.”
Gatland future up in the air after Wales suffer 12th consecutive loss
Wales head coach Warren Gatland did not have answers about his future following their 45-12 defeat to South Africa, their 12th consecutive loss.
The Springboks dominated from the off and were cruising 26-0 just before half-time, after Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Elrigh Louw crossed.
Rio Dyer's try before the break ensured Wales did not draw a blank in the first half, but South Africa did not let up as Aphelele Fassi, Gerhard Steenenkamp and Jordan Hendrikse all followed suit.
James Botham's late effort ensured Wales did not suffer their worst-ever home defeat, but they have now gone an entire calendar year without a win for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has come under increasing pressure as the losses pile up, and though his future remains up in the air, he was proud of how his inexperienced side held up against the world champions.
"It's about seeing what the Welsh Rugby Union has to say," he told TNT Sports when asked about his future.
"You don't make a decision straight after a game, it's always tough coming to a press conference straight after a game before you've had time to catch your breath and look at some of the stats and numbers.
"Let's just see what happens over the next few days."
On their recent run of form, he added: "We punched massively above our weight for a number of years, and we've been saying that when the dam bursts it's going to take a little bit of time to put things right.
"The dam has burst, but it's about making sure that, collectively, with the regions we work together.
"I think we need to be in better shape in a conditioning point of view. We will work on that with some of the players over the next couple of months, so when they turn up for the Six Nations, they're ready to go from day one."
South Africa have won each of their last three Tests, building on their wins over Scotland and England earlier in the series.
Captain Siya Kolisi was pleased with their ruthlessness in the game but also sympathised with Gatland's situation.
"It's been a really good tour," he told TNT Sports. "It hasn't been perfect, the first two games we weren't happy - happy we won, but there was so much we could have done better.
"The results are important, but it's how you do things, the standards we set for ourselves. We know we can do a little bit better as a group.
"We were where Wales are a couple of years ago.
"The only thing I can say is you just can't stop believing. If you look at their starting backline, one of our guys had more caps than all of them. You have to be realistic about these things."
Elsewhere, Ireland produced their most convincing win of their series, scoring eight tries as they cruised past Fiji 52-17 in Dublin earlier on Saturday.
France 37-23 Argentina: Les Bleus wrap up campaign with third win
France posted a comfortable 37-23 win over Argentina on Friday to make it three wins out of three tests at the Stade de France to conclude their Autumn Nations Series.
Having also beaten New Zealand and Japan in Paris this month, Fabien Galthie's side claimed four tries, including a superb solo effort from Louis Bielle-Biarrey, as they eased to victory against the Pumas.
The hosts led 30-9 at the break after Argentina's Julian Montoya and Juan Martin Gonzalez were both shown yellow cards in the first half, with Thomas Ramos slotting his third penalty of the game.
Tomas Albornoz made it 30-16 for Felipe Contepomi's visitors, but their hopes of a comeback were dashed as Bielle-Biarrey scored his fourth try in three games before Ramos made it 37-16.
Albornoz then cut the deficit to 37-23 with a two-pointer with nine minutes to play, but that wasn't enough to stop his side from falling to a defeat.
"We knew it was going to be an 80-minute game. We saw last week how Argentina went all the way against a good Irish team," France lock Emmanuel Meafou told TNT Sports.
"We are happy with the win. We have three from three [in the autumn] and we will look to build on that in the Six Nations next year."
England must be 'brave on the ball' to halt winless run, says Borthwick
England head coach Steve Borthwick has demanded his team to be "brave on the ball" when they take on Eddie Jones' Japan in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday.
Borthwick's side have lost each of their last five matches, their longest such run since another five-game stretch between February and June 2018.
However, they have not lost more in a row since a streak of seven in 2006. Each of the five losses in their current streak have also come in single-digit margins.
But England have also struggled at home. They have fallen to defeat in their last three matches at the Allianz Stadium, their longest losing run since 2008.
Only once before have they lost more in a row at the Twickenham venue (L5 between 1971 and 1973), though Borthwick has urged his players to persist with an attacking style.
"We are trying to play the game a different way," he told BBC Sport.
"I am encouraging the players to be brave with the ball, to move the ball, that’s where the strength of the team now is and where it is going to be in the future."
Borthwick named his 23-man squad to face Japan on Friday, reinstating Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, nicknamed the "Kamikaze Kids" by Jones in 2019.
Curry has been recalled to the team after he was knocked out against Australia, and he replaces Chandler Cunningham-South in the back-row.
In the other change from the starting XV that lost to South Africa, full-back George Furbank comes in for Freddie Steward.
Fin Smith replaces George Ford on England's bench while Cunningham-South steps in for Alex Dombrandt. Sale's Opoku-Fordjour could also make his senior debut.
"We anticipate a tough challenge from a team that thrives on playing fast and with tempo," said Borthwick.
"Japan are a dangerous team, so it’s important that we execute our game plan and maintain focus throughout the full 80 minutes."
England team to face Japan
George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Nick Isiekwe, Chandler Cunningham-South, Harry Randall, Fin Smith, Tom Roebuck.
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