Former England international named Harlequins Women's new head coach

Harlequins Women have named former England international Amy Turner as their new head coach ahead of next season.

The former England scrum-half has been in charge of the England Women’s under-20 outfit since September 2019 having retired from playing in 2018, and has been embedded in Simon Middleton’s England Senior Women’s coaching set-up ahead of the Rugby World Cup later this year.

Turner will now return to the club she represented as a player ahead of the new Allianz Premier 15s season which is due to begin in November. She will bring with her former Bath defence coach Brent Janse van Rensburg as Technical Director of Harlequins’ Women, while Quins fullback Ross Chisholm has been named skills coach.

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After her return to the Stoop was revealed, Turner said to the Harlequins website: “I could not be more excited to start my new role with Harlequins. This is a Club that has shown clear intent and initiative to drive the women’s game. I am lucky enough to have seen the launch of The Game Changer as a player at The Stoop and seeing the team join Big Game each year has been fantastic for the profile of our game.

“I am hugely thankful to everyone I have had the fortune to work with at the RFU throughout the first few years of my coaching career and can’t wait to work alongside Brent, Ross, Matt and a fantastic playing group next season.”

Harlequins Director of Rugby Performance Billy Millard said: “We are thrilled to announce the appointment of such a strong staffing structure for our Women’s team.

“Amy is a talented coach who knows the Premier 15s and the women’s rugby landscape extremely well. We are dedicated to support her development into the best female coach in England and we are excited to have her lead our program into its new era.”