Partners
Close
Get the App
Our new mobile app is now available for iOS and Android and ensures you never miss a moment.
Our new mobile app is now available for iOS and Android and ensures you never miss a moment.
The England Under-20s women’s head coach can count multiple Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby head coaches, current national coaches and members of the Red Roses staff among her mentors.
In American sport, particularly American football, the concept of the coaching tree refers to those who have come through the ranks under a high-profile coach – in Lewis’ case, she has worked under almost every high-profile female coach in the game.
Exeter Chiefs’ Susie Appleby, Trailfinders Women’s Giselle Mather and Harlequins’ Amy Turner are just three trailblazing female coaches who have had a major influence on her career to date.
And after spells at Bristol Bears, Gloucester-Hartpury and Wasps, among many others, Lewis is excited at the prospect of guiding England’s next generation of Red Roses.
She said: “I definitely love working with this age group, kind of 18 to 23.
“At that kind of age, I think you see so much changing, there's quite a big part of is that they are experiencing new life things.
“But not only that, obviously, their athletic potential, they've got a massive window where they can change a lot. They can be really challenging as well.
“For you as a coach, you ask yourself, how do I work with this player? This is a new experience. They've come from somewhere very different, a different background, and challenge your thinking. I think you have an opportunity to have a real impression on them at that age.”
Her predecessor in the role is Lou Meadows, now running the attack for the senior Red Roses, an example of the path to growth for those who impress at this level.
But as much as Lewis is thrilled at seeing her fellow female coaches being recognised for their achievements, she feels the next step is for those same coaches to get opportunities on the men’s side of the sport – an acknowledgement that they are not just talented women’s rugby coaches but skilled rugby coaches full-stop.
Mather made history in that regard, as the first female coach to hold a full-time position with a men's Premiership side, with Lewis having worked under her at Wasps – while she also has experience coaching men’s rugby herself.
Lewis said: “There's plenty of us out there that are great rugby coaches not just because we're women we're just great rugby coaches. We could coach rugby, not women's rugby.
“I do wonder is that the next step where you start seeing some of us potentially pop up a little bit more in that men's space?
“That could be a really great way of seeing the game develop. We'll see if that could be another avenue.
“Having worked with Susie and Giselle and both like respective environments, it makes it easier to pick the phone up if you need to ask a question or problem.
“There is a nice rapport and bit of I suppose an unsaid group of us that can reach out to each other as and when.
“I couldn't speak highly enough of all the female colleagues out there.”
Head coach LJ Lewis has announced her first England U20 Women's training squad 🌹
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 14, 2024
This week Lewis announced her squad for the next training camp for England’s Under-20s, where she is working alongside Saracens back-three speedster Sarah McKenna, part of the Red Roses squad that reached the World Cup final in 2022.
The duo have not been afraid to think outside the box when it comes to moulding the next generation.
Lewis explained: “I obviously knew of Sarah from being a Red Rose herself and being a fantastic player and I coached against her a lot when she played at club level.
“I was working with Amy Turner two seasons ago in the Under-20s and Sarah came in then and did a couple of skill sessions.
“So, I kind of got a feel for them as a coach. But this is the first time we've worked intensely together.
“We're looking at trying to drive some emotion from the girls through the history of the Vikings and the shield maidens and some of their cultural beliefs around how they were warriors.
“Then a little bit around trying to find space and looking up and seeing it rather than waiting for the space to appear.
“I think it has landed quite well, only time will tell when we start playing.
“I feel that this job has so much growth in it. So I'm trying to keep my eyes on this role and how that needs to grow because there's so much growth in this space, but I love performance and I love potentially thinking, what after?
“Like, what would I like to do when maybe the coaching side of things starts becoming something I don't want to do so much.”
Whatever lies later on in her career, LJ Lewis is an inspiration for young female coaches, but she isn’t the only one and they are soon to become household names across British rugby.
Jorja Battishill (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Joia Bennett (Saracens)
Reneeqa Bonner (Bristol Bears) *
Lucy Calladine (Loughborough Lightning)
Evelyn Clarke (Loughborough Lightning)
Ella Cromack (Harlequins)
Millie David (Bristol Bears)
Steph Else (Gloucester-Hartpury) *
Daisy Fitzgerald (Saracens)
Chloe Flanagan (Saracens)
Sophie Hopkins (Sale Sharks)
Millie Hyett (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Lilli Ives-Campion (Loughborough Lightning) **
Sophie Langford (Exeter Chiefs) *
Amelia Macdougall (Saracens)
Annabel Meta (Trailfinders Women)
Sophie Molton (Trailfinders Women)
Anna Richardson (Exeter University)
Ellie Roberts (Loughborough Lightning)
Hannah Sams (Exeter Chiefs)
Tori Sellors (Saracens) *
Samantha Shiels (Trailfinders Women)
Katie Shillaker (Harlequins)
Niamh Swailes (Sale Sharks) *
Catherine Wells (Loughborough Lightning) *
Lola Whitley (Gloucester-Hartpury) *
Alex Wilkinson (Henley Hawks)
Niamh Williams (Sale Sharks) *
Amelia Williams (Loughborough Lightning)
Eva Wood (Sale Sharks)
England U20 Women vs. Army – 23 March 2024 (Havant RFC, 17:30 GMT kick-off) France U20 Women vs. England U20 Women – 20 April 2024 (venue and kick-off time TBC) England U20 Women vs. Wales U20 Women – 4 May 2024 (venue and kick-off time TBC)
Image credit: RFU Collection via JMP UK
