15 May 2008
Nigel Redman, who coached the England U20 squad to a Grand Slam in this year’s RBS 6 Nations, has accepted the new post of Elite Coach Development Manager reporting to the Head of Elite Coach Development Kevin Bowring.

Nigel, who coached the England U19 team for three years became Head Coach of the U20 side for the 2007/08 season when the national representative age groups were changed from U21 and U19 to U20 and U18 respectively. He will be leading the England side to the IRB Junior World Championship to be held in Wales next month before taking up his new role on July 1st.

Kevin Bowring said “Nigel has done an outstanding job as Head Coach of two of our age group representative teams. The Grand Slam was a superb achievement and he will be an invaluable asset to me as we aim to further develop our Elite Coach Development Programme. Nigel’s coaching journey has allowed him to gain coaching experience with club, development and international teams.

“Nigel fully understands the importance of personal development having completed all the RFU coaching awards and the UK Sport Elite Coach programme. He is passionate about developing people and I am sure he will successfully transfer his skills from developing players to developing coaches.

“Nigel himself is a product of the ECD programme, which has helped over 40 English qualified coaches achieve the new Level 4 and 5 coaching qualifications.

“Other coaches who achieved these qualifications include Jon Callard, Stuart Lancaster, Richard Hill, Toby Booth, Shaun Edwards, Ben Ryan, Martin Haag, Neil Back, John Fletcher, Paul Hull and Denis Betts.”

Nigel Redman said “I’m delighted to accept the new role working with Kevin Bowring. I’ve always felt that the players are the most important people and that they must have the best support available. To bring out the best of players you must have quality coaches and I’m excited by the opportunity of having the chance to help and develop elite coaches to  achieve the best results that they can with their players through the ECD.” 

The Elite Rugby Department has also confirmed the appointment of the ex-Bath Rugby and England second row Martin Haag as a National Academy Coach. Martin joins the RFU in *June and will be involved in the coaching of the U20 team, which will now be led by Mark Mapletoft who has worked alongside Nigel Redman for the last 18 months. Since September of last year Martin has been working as the Bath Academy forwards coach.

Martin Haag said “I’m really looking forward to joining the RFU. It’s a very exciting and challenging role and hopefully I will be able to continue the good work that Nigel and Mark have been doing. My coaching work at club level has gone well and I see this appointment as an opportunity to take what I’ve learnt onto a national stage with young players at the National Academy.”