coaches

In 2018, Hunter’s former England head coach Simon Middleton tipped his captain to take over his role one day.

Asked whether Scarratt or Hunter, who have a combined total of 260 international caps, have the capability to take over as head coach for the next World Cup in 2033, Mitchell said: “Most definitely. I will probably be an old man by then, in my 70s I think.”

He added: “They have been challenged for a long time in their careers and they are extremely curious.

“You don’t play over 100 Test matches or become the most-capped English women’s player in history if you don’t have a strong work rate.

“You have two wonderful people who are authentic, easy to work with and fun to work with.”

A challenge for Scarratt, which Hunter has already had to navigate, is coaching her former team-mates.

Scrum-half Natasha Hunt appears regularly on Scarratt’s podcast, ‘The Good, the Scaz and the Rugby’, and the pair were room-mates in camp.

Pre-recorded shows will still go out but Scarratt will be fully focused on coaching during the Six Nations.

“She [Hunt] tried [to still room with me], she tried pretty hard,” she joked.

“Mo [Hunt] is rooming with Marlie Packer. So for anyone who was concerned, she is safe and well looked after.

“There are certain things that I cannot talk to Mo about any more because there is an element where it is not appropriate for players to know certain things.

“Obviously they know who I am. I know who they are. There is no point trying to pretend like we [former team-mates] are not friends or that we can’t share a joke with one another. That would almost be weirder.”

Only three female head coaches were in charge at the last World Cup (France, Australia and Japan).

Scarratt said it is too early to consider one day taking on that role but she remains passionate about increasing opportunities for female coaches.

“Fundamentally, we need to do a better job – whether that is upskilling, making it more accessible or showing that it is visible – for more people to be in the game and to then move into those roles,” she added.

“There is still probably a shortage of people available to do that, aside from ex-players. It is very cool to see women in those roles.”

At the 2023 Women’s World Cup, 12 of the 32 head coaches were female, including England manager Sarina Wiegman.

“There are simply not enough women in coaching today. We must do more to accelerate change by creating clearer pathways, expanding opportunities, and increasing the visibility for women on our sidelines,” said Fifa’s chief football officer Jill Ellis.

“The new Fifa regulations, combined with targeted development programmes, mark an important investment in the current and future generation of female coaches.”

Fifa hopes these new regulations will see a rapid increase in female representation, including at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

Among some of the most high-profile female coaches is London-born Emma Hayes, who is joined by assistant Denise Reddy at the United States.

In 2024, Hayes told BBC Sport that a lack of female coaches in English football is “a massive issue” and urged the game’s administrators to “come up with more creative ways” to address it.

Other female English coaches at international level include Gemma Grainger at Norway, Casey Stoney at Canada and Carla Ward at the Republic of Ireland.

Canadian Rhian Wilkinson led Wales to their first major tournament at Euro 2025 last summer, while Dutchwoman Wiegman has guided England to back-to-back European titles and has been named the Fifa best women’s coach of the year on four occasions.

Wiegman was the only female coach in the quarter-final stage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Speaking at that time, she said: “Of course what we hope is to get more female coaches at the top level and that the balance gets better than it is right now.

“Males are welcome too but if the balance is better than hopefully that will inspire more women to get involved in coaching.”