Yapp makes history as first Lions Women coach

Former England skipper Jo Yapp says she wants to "create thing genuinely special" aft being named arsenic the archetypal British and Irish Lions Women manager for adjacent year's inaugural circuit successful New Zealand.

Yapp won 70 caps arsenic a scrum-half and went to 3 World Cups, starring the Red Roses to the 2006 decider.

After spells with England Women Under-20s, Worcester Warriors Women and the Barbarians, she guided Australia to the last 8 of past year's World Cup earlier returning to England to take up the role of caput of women's pathway.

The Lions Women volition unfastened their circuit with a warm-up lucifer against a Black Ferns XV successful Whangarei connected 4 September earlier 3 Tests successful Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

"To pb the archetypal ever British and Irish Lions women's squad is an unthinkable honour and thing I'm immensely arrogant of," said the 46-year-old.

"The Lions represents the precise champion of our athletics and this circuit to New Zealand is an accidental to make thing genuinely peculiar and assistance signifier the aboriginal of women's rugby for years to come.

"I cognize from acquisition however challenging it is to look the Black Ferns connected location ungraded but that situation is precisely what makes this Tour truthful exciting.

"There is an tremendous magnitude of endowment crossed the 4 unions [England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales] and I'm looking guardant to bringing unneurotic the precise champion players to correspond the Lions successful 2027."

Yapp volition enactment part-time for the Lions from July, earlier taking a afloat sabbatical from the RFU to enactment full-time arsenic Lions caput manager from January.

British and Irish Lions main enforcement Ben Calverley said: "Jo's breadth of acquisition crossed the UK nine crippled and the planetary women's crippled successful the confederate hemisphere made her an outstanding campaigner for this role.

"Her imaginativeness for bringing unneurotic players from the 4 unions was hugely compelling and we are thrilled to invited her connected board.

"For a infinitesimal that represents specified a measurement guardant for the game, it was important to america that this assignment serves our tendency to turn and enactment each aspects of the women's crippled including the promotion of pistillate coaches.

"We are delighted to name Jo, who we judge volition excite players and fans alike arsenic we proceed to physique towards New Zealand successful 2027."