2 Celtic Challenge coaches named as part of the Gallagher High Performance Academy. These coaches include Edinburgh Rugby’s Claire Cruikshank and Gwalia Lightning’s Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin.
World Rugby and Gallagher today announced the next 11 female coaches that will head to WXV 2024, the second edition of the women’s 15 tournament, as part of the Gallagher High Performance Academy. The fully immersive global development and leadership programme is dedicated to enhancing the prominence of female coaches as we approach Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025.
- 11 female coaches to join the programme at WXV 2024, enabling the coaches to gain invaluable experience in a high performance environment
- Global footprint continues to grow, with new markets nominating coaches for the first time
- The Gallagher High Performance Academy has supported 26 female coaches since 2023
With a focus on talent identification, professional support and championing the next generation of international coaches, the Gallagher High Performance Academy develops existing coaching talent, and identifies opportunities for new coaches and women in other high performance roles.
Continued expansion globally
The GHPA programme continues to go from strength-to-strength having recently broadened its scope to encompass all formats of the women’s game. The latest programme coincided with the HSBC SVNS Series, culminating in a thrilling finale in Madrid in June. During this series, 10 coaches were embedded with their respective national teams, gaining invaluable hands-on experience in elite sporting environments.
Participants in the programme have continued to advance their coaching careers with a raft of appointments announced since their participation. Since WXV 2023, Larissa Muldoon has taken on the role of Assistant Backs and Attacks Coach for Ireland at the Guinness Women’s Six Nations and also became the Head Coach of Ireland U18s.
Former player, Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin has continued to develop her skills by leading the coaching team for Gwalia Lightning in the Celtic Challenge and progressing to the position of Defence Coach for Wales U18s and U20s.
Catrina has previously spoken about how invaluable the GHPA experience has been in learning from her peers, including how to balance rugby commitments whilst raising a young family. She hopes to inspire other mothers to choose a career in coaching, commenting: “A huge goal of mine was allowing myself and the WRU to show that I can be a mother and a coach at the same time, and can marry those two successfully. Seeing the impact you can have on players, not just on the field but off it too, is the reason I coach.” Catrina will return to the programme for WXV 2024.
Following Canada’s participation in the HSBC SVNS Series edition of the programme, Emma DeLory was selected to travel with Canada as a coach for World Rugby’s Pacific Four Series.
Yuka Kanematsu was also recently announced as the new Head Coach of the Japan Women’s Sevens team, ensuring a third of coaches for the women’s teams on HSBC SVNS Series 2025 will be female.
Most recently, GHPA WXV 2023 and SVNS 2024 alumni, Patricia Garcia Rodriguez was named as Assistant Coach of the Women’s Barbarians team that took on the Springbok Women earlier this month. The Academy’s global footprint continues to grow, with new markets such as Madagascar and the Netherlands nominating coaches for the first time. This expansion follows their successful participation in the WXV qualifiers, securing their places in the tournament.
WXV 2024 Cohort of Coaches
| Union | Coach |
| Australia | Gill Bourke |
| Canada | Carolyn McEwen |
| Fiji | Tavaita Rowati |
| Italy | Michela Merlo |
| Ireland | Maz Reilly |
| Japan | Yoko Suzuki |
| Madagascar | Dina Razafindratsara |
| Netherlands | Elke van der Meer |
| Samoa | Bella Milo |
| Scotland | Claire Cruikshank |
| Wales | Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin |
The future is bright for female coaches
Commenting on the announcement, World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby, Sally Horrox said: “We are delighted to welcome the 11 coaches joining us for the next edition of this vital programme. The Gallagher High Performance Academy has been pivotal in advancing the careers of female rugby coaches, and it has been inspiring to follow the progress of the participants so far.
We know that one of the barriers to growing girls and women’s rugby is the lack of female coaches in the sport. The GHPA plays a critical role in helping us to address this.
“We set ourselves the ambitious goal of achieving 40% female coaches in the coaching teams at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. It is encouraging to see that we are on track to meet this target. This initiative reflects both our and Gallagher’s unwavering commitment to fostering diversity and striving for gender equity in rugby.”
Speaking about her own experience, Gallagher Ambassador and SVNS 2024 GHPA Participant Shannon Parry said: “It’s integral for the development of women’s rugby that we have more inclusivity. The Gallagher High Performance Academy offers a perfect platform for this, developing existing female coaches while also identifying new talent – championing the next generation of international coaches, and developing opportunities for other high performance roles.
“Having been through the Academy myself, I’ve benefitted first hand from the skills that are shared, the structures that are put in place to help you, and the learnings from your fellow female coaches. The opportunity to be embedded with national teams, working at elite levels and in an ultimate high performance environment, is truly unique.
“The Gallagher High Performance Academy is helping to close the gap of where women’s coaching is currently, and where it needs to be.”
For the remainder of the year, the Gallagher High Performance Academy has an ambitious schedule of support and workshops planned. These initiatives will feature involvement from top-level professionals, from both World Rugby and Gallagher, with the aim to further develop the technical, leadership, and strategic capabilities of the participating coaches.
By providing a platform for female coaches to thrive, the Gallagher High Performance Academy is not only contributing to the advancement of women in rugby but also setting the stage for a more inclusive and diverse future in the sport.
Profiles of each of the 2024 Gallagher High Performance Academy participants are available to view here.
Gallagher, a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm is the Official Insurance Partner of Women’s Rugby, WXV 2024, and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.