Female coaches ‘huge’ for women’s rugby – Emily Scarratt
In 2018, Hunter’s former England head coach Simon Middleton tipped his skipper to one day take over.
Asked whether Scarratt, who has a total of 260 international caps, or Hunter could take over as head coach at the next World Cup in 2033, Mitchell said: “Absolutely. I’ll probably be an old man by then, I think I’ll be in my 70s.”
He added: “They have long faced challenges in their careers and are extremely curious.
“You can’t play 100-plus Test matches or be the most-capped England women’s player in history if you don’t have a strong work rate.
“There are two great people who are genuine, easy to work with, and fun to work with.”
For Scarratt, the challenge Hunter already had to overcome was coaching his former teammates.
Scrum half Natasha Hunt appears regularly on Scarratt’s podcast ‘The Good, the Scaz and the Rugby’ and the pair were roommates at camp.
Pre-recorded programs will continue to be broadcast but Scarratt will focus entirely on coaching during the Six Nations.
“HE [Hunt] tested [to still room with me]”He tried pretty hard,” he joked.
“Mother [Hunt] He’s rooming with Marlie Packer. So for anyone concerned, he is safe and well cared for.
“There are some things I can’t talk about with Mo anymore because there’s an element of it that it’s not appropriate for the players to know certain things.
“Of course they know who I am. I know who they are. There’s no point in pretending it’s us.” [former team-mates] that we’re not friends or can’t share a joke with each other. That would almost be weirder.”
There were only three female head coaches at the last World Cup (France, Australia and Japan).
Scarratt said it was too early to consider taking on the role one day, but she was passionate about increasing opportunities for female coaches.
“Fundamentally, we need to do a better job of getting more people involved in gaming and then moving into those roles — whether that’s building skills, making gaming more accessible, or showing that it’s visible,” he added.
“There’s probably a shortage of people who can do this, other than former actors. It’s great to see women in these roles.”
