Sarah Hunter on why she cut short maternity leave to coach England to home World Cup glory

Sarah Hunter had no doubts about cutting her maternity leave short to be back in time to coach England at a home Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The former Red Roses captain gave birth to daughter Olivia in October last year and returned to her role as defence coach just six-and-a-half months later.

Hunter, who retired from playing in 2023, aims to be a role model for others wanting to combine coaching with having a child.

“Becoming a mother has been the best thing ever, I feel really lucky to have Olivia,” the 39-year-old said.

“It was a decision between myself and my partner Nathan, who also works in rugby, that actually I do want to come back to work.

“I do want to show that you can be a female coach in a high-performance environment and still be a mum.

“I was very adamant that I wanted to juggle the balance of that. Then you throw a home World Cup into it all, and I just didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to have that opportunity to do it.

“I feel very lucky and privileged that I am part of the Red Roses and have been given the opportunity to do it through the Red Roses, the RFU and the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA) to try and be the best coach I can be.”

Hunter joined the Red Roses coaching staff only a few months after retiring, as part of the first cohort of female coaches on the Gallagher High Performance Academy.

The North Shields native was given support through mentoring and workshops, as well as being embedded with the England team for the first WXV tournament, which the Red Roses won.

Sixteen more female coaches will be part of the GHPA at the Rugby World Cup, with World Rugby aiming to have women making up at least 40 per cent of coaching staff at the tournament.

Hunter is joined by Lou Meadows and Kate Tyler as mothers as part of the England backroom staff and has cited football coach Emma Hayes and Keely Hodgkinson’s coach Jenny Meadows as inspirations.

She said: “Hopefully in time, Olivia will look back and see and be proud of what her mum has done.

“The opportunity to coach your national side who are one of the best teams in the world at a home World Cup may never come around again.

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“When you are away from her, the times are hard, I just have to keep reminding myself of the reasons why and the importance of being in camp and the importance of doing my very best so there is something for her to be proud of when you return home.

“I want to take that role on and it is a bit of a responsibility to showcase that you can do both.”

Hunter and England head into the home World Cup, which begins on 22 August at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, having not lost since defeat in the final of the previous World Cup in New Zealand.

Ticket sales are continuing to break records and the chance to be a part of it was too good for Hunter to turn down.

“The hopes around what this tournament could be back when the announcement happened to what it is now, all those plans that are coming to fruition,” she said.

"The expectation of what we thought it could be to how it is now and hopefully by the end of September that is going to be blown out of the water.”

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