Jo Yapp: Former England captain Yapp named Australia Women’s first full-time head coach

Jo Yapp was most recently director of rugby at Worcester Warriors Women, and previously head coach of England Women U20s; The former scrum-half won 70 caps for England and captained the Red Roses to the 2006 World Cup final; Yapp becomes the first full-time head coach of Australia’s women

Former England captain Jo Yapp has been named as the first full-time coach of the Australia women’s team.

The ex-scrum-half, who played 70 times for England and captained them to the 2006 Rugby World Cup final, has been appointed until the end of 2025.

Yapp was director of rugby at Worcester Warriors Women until their demise this year, having spent five years as head coach of the England Women’s U20s and worked as the senior team’s backs coach in 2015.

“It is a great honour to be appointed head coach of a proud rugby nation such as Australia,” Yapp, who will take up her role in late January, said.

“I have fond recollections of battling Australia as a player, and you cannot help but be impressed by the strides the Wallaroos have made in the past couple of years.

“For a semi-professional team to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup last year, and to then finish third in the WXV tournament this year, is a huge testament to the talent in the country.

“I have seen some of that up close in recent years too, with some of the Australian players having stints in the English Premiership. I am looking forward to getting started, getting to know the players, and building further towards the 2025 Rugby World Cup.”

Jo Yapp captained England and won 70 caps during her playing career

Yapp, who has coached the Barbarian Women on two occasions as well, will work closely with Australia’s national women’s high-performance manager Jaime Fernandez to help the Wallaroos with the transition to being full-time.

Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh believes Yapp’s experience will be vital on Australia’s path to full professionalism.

“England is obviously at the top of the heap in the world of women’s rugby at the moment with a fully professional women’s system that is the envy of most other rugby-playing nations,” Waugh said.

“We have been impressed by Jo’s thinking on the game, her attention to detail, and her plans to build a strong high-performance culture.

“I am confident that she is the right person to lead the development of the Wallaroos programme as we look towards the next World Cup in England in 2025.”