Loughborough Lightning are delighted to announce that Rachel Taylor will join the club’s coaching team ahead of the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season.
The 41-year-old arrives with a wealth of experience, having spent four years with Sale Sharks, rising to the role of head coach.
Taylor made history as becoming the first female coach of a national league Welsh rugby team when she took over Colwyn Bay in 2018 aged only 35 and also was the first professional national female coach with the Welsh Rugby Union.
Born in Bangor, her club playing career was split between Newport Gwent Dragons and Bristol. A senior Wales international debut came in 2007 and the second row/back row would eventually bow out with 67 caps to her name.
Also on Taylor’s coaching CV is a spell with Barbarian Women, having previously captained them in her playing days too.
“I am really excited for this opportunity with Loughborough Lightning and really honing in on my coaching craft,” said Taylor. “I tried my hand at being a head coach which I thoroughly enjoyed but I still feel I have a lot to explore and develop as a coach. I feel this environment will encourage and support me to do that.
“I really wanted to stay in the PWR, I want to stay in what is in my opinion, the best league in the world, with the best players in the world.
”When the opportunity came to go to Loughborough, that was just something I really wanted to get my hands on right away.”
Rachel Taylor
“I can’t wait to meet the team and be part of a group that is going forward in the league, it is a really good group of players and staff. It has got a lot of potential as a team. The chance for me to stay within high performance women’s sport and stay within the league was a really exciting opportunity.“
Taylor, who will lead on Lightning’s defence in her new role, kept a keen eye on the club’s progress last season.
“At the start of last season there was a lot of changes and not having that consistency in the team, they struggled a little bit,” said Taylor. “Once they strung a couple of consistent performances together, there were some real glimpses of the type of the contenders that they could be in the league. The performances grew week on week. That’s quite exciting as a coach. You want to see teams that still have that space and hunger to want to get better and improve what they are doing on the pitch and there was definitely signs of that last season.”
She is also looking forward to calling cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens home, having enjoyed her experiences there from the visitors’ dug out.
“It has always been a really iconic stadium to go to and to be at,” Taylor added. “It is a fantastic pitch, but also the energy around the place at the moment. There’s a lot of buzz and hype with the men’s team doing so well and I think there has been some really good engagements in terms of getting fans in there.
“What Lightning have been doing to build that rugby community at Saints is something that is a big part of who I am and what I love about rugby. I think I can lend myself to that quite a lot going forward.”
Head coach Nathan Smith stated Taylor – who is currently doing her Level 4 RFU coaching qualification – was the ‘stand-out’ candidate for the role.
“We are delighted to have Rachel involved,” he said. ”She came with fresh ideas and a determination to improve and to be a success within the team. I feel the areas in which she will focus on are areas we need improvement on and I am looking forward to working with her.
“I have got no doubt that Rachel will only add to the environment and make the players better.”
Nathan Smith, Lightning head coach
“The programme we have here at Loughborough means it is important that we have a full-time female coach within our programme and it is something that I fully support. I also think it is important that someone of Rachel’s quality gets the opportunity to carry on her coaching journey.
“We have a strong history of female coaches within the programme with the likes of Sarah Hunter, Emily Scarratt, Abby Duguid and Katie Trevarthen all working within it. The university is committed to the development of female coaches as much as I am.
“Rachel is a fantastic coach in her own right and I think she will really benefit from having time away from leading a programme, but she has an opportunity to lead an area of the game and focus on her coaching for this period.”
Loughborough Lightning 2025/26 Season Tickets are available priced from £55*/£15* during the Early Bird discount period, which runs until 6 May. For more information, please click HERE!
