Breach says Edwards has shown commitment to Red Roses in new coaching role

England wing Jess Breach says Shaun Edwards has demonstrated a genuine commitment to improving the Red Roses since joining their coaching staff this week. The Guardian reported on Thursday that Breach welcomed the reasons Edwards gave the squad for taking the consultancy role, including a personal connection to his late mother.

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Breach said players wanted coaches to join because they cared about developing the women's team, rather than viewing the job mainly as a route into men's rugby. She said Edwards' explanation had reassured and moved members of the squad. His account of why he wanted to work with England helped answer their initial questions about his arrival.

Head coach John Mitchell also described an immediate exchange of ideas with Edwards. According to the Guardian, Mitchell said the newcomer had wanted to learn every player's name before entering camp and was keen to help England's defensive system succeed. Mitchell said he was learning from Edwards himself, while describing a direct coaching approach and little appetite for personal attention.

The arrangement is a short-term consultancy for the remainder of the WXV Global Series. BBC Sport reported that Edwards is expected to work alongside defence coach Sarah Hunter. The 59-year-old recently left France's men's coaching staff, where he won three Six Nations titles. This is his first coaching appointment with an England team, men's or women's.

BBC Sport separately reported Marlie Packer's account of Edwards telling the players about his mother, Phyllis. She had never been given the opportunity to play rugby but would have welcomed it, Packer said. Phyllis, who died in March 2021, had also encouraged her son to study rugby union while he was still a leading rugby league player and considering a future in coaching.

Edwards brings experience from Wasps and international roles with Wales and France, with seven Six Nations championships across the latter two jobs. He joins an England side whose sequence of 39 Test victories ended in a 26-26 draw with Canada. Packer told BBC Sport that attracting a coach with his record reflected the progress made by the Red Roses and the women's game.