Former Worcester Warriors Women director makes history as Wallaroos coach
Jo Yapp's the first full time female head coach of the Australian women's national team.
The former director of rugby at Worcester Warriors Women has made history by becoming the first full-time female head coach of the Australian national team.
Jo Yapp has signed a two-year deal down under after the departure of Jay Tregonning.
The former England scrumhalf has made 70 appearances for her country between 1997 and 2009 - as well as captaining them to the 2006 Rugby World Cup final.
On their website, the CEO of the Wallaroos, Paul Waugh said:
"This appointment is a crucial one as we work towards our goal of continuing to grow Women’s Rugby in Australia,” said CEO Paul Waugh. “It is a huge opportunity for our game as we continue to grow sustainably as investment increases in the coming years.
“We now have our first ever full-time coach of the Wallaroos, we have hired our first Women’s High-Performance Manager, and we are seeing continual year-on-year growth in participation of women and girls in the community.
“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. Jo has been heavily involved in this system – in the early days as a player, and then as a coach and Director of Rugby as the English system developed into that powerhouse.
“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 – which she has experience doing; many of the players she coached in the England U20s are now the players that are so influential in the senior team.
“Jo is a highly sought-after coach, and I am confident that she is the right person to lead the development of the Wallaroos program as we look towards the next World Cup in England in 2025.”
Speaking after the appointment, Yapp said it's a great honour to be appointed head coach of a proud Rugby nation, such as Australia.