red roses

Dan talks to Jess Hayden, former Times sports journalist and author of

Dan chats to Jess Hayden, author of The Red Roses: Behind the Scenes with the England Women's Rugby Team.

Jess, who was previously a sports journalist at The Times and The Sunday Times, is the editor of Contested, a new social app for sports fans.

In writing the book, she was able to get exclusive access to the England Women's team, known at the Red Roses, plus speak to former players and coaches.

In the podcast, she talks about:

• The highs and huge lows of a World Cup campaign
• Professionalism in women's rugby and the lessons to be learned from the difficulties in the men's game
• Why the audience for women's rugby is growing, but also, what's holding it back
• Should England have chosen a woman to be their new head coach
• The rise of WXV
• Why the Lions touring team isn't the right vehicle to grow women's rugby
• The simple misunderstanding that made the England players so angry 
• Who was the only player to watch the lost final on the plane home from 2021 World Cup

The book is out at the start of March.

Contested: Because every athlete and team sport deserves recognition.

A unique space for fans to join the conversation, debate predictions, and celebrate sports together. It covers lots of sports in the detail you won't get in the mainstream media.

To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach Weekly

Also, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Emma Mitchell was Red Rose number #19, with an international rugby career that spanned 15 years. She won 57 caps for England and Great Britain, competed in 4 World Cups with the 1994 World Cup win being her career highlight.

Following her retirement in 2002, Emma went on to coach at club, regional and international level in the USA, Canada and the UK.

In 2007 Emma joined the English Institute of Sport as a Performance Lifestyle Coach, supporting over 200 elite GB Hockey athletes and coaches over four Olympic cycles. Over the last 10 years, she’s also been involved in a number of coach development programmes, providing mentoring support to coaches in Tennis, Squash, Sailing, Hockey, Rugby, Swimming, Boxing and Football.

In this fascinating and entertaining conversation, we explore the early days of women’s rugby in England in the 1980s and Emma shares the conditions laid down for women to be allowed to play at London clubs and what it took to place for your country. 

What she’s learnt from a life in coaching and in her role as a lifestyle Advisor at the EIS. What can women’s team sport learn from Olympic and Paralympic programmes as it becomes professional and what the future looks like for women’s rugby players globally. 
Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers through the National Lottery 

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Sarah Hunter is a rugby legend. The world's most capped female rugby player and most capped England player (male or female).  Sarah captains England into a World Cup Final this weekend. A World Cup winner in 2014, Sarah has played in four World Cup Finals, and captained England to Six Nations Grand Slam wins and a record breaking run of over 30 consecutive wins.

Sarah took over the England captaincy in 2015 and in 2016 was name England’s Player of the Year by the Rugby Players’ Association and World Rugby’s Player of the Year and awarded an MBE for her Services to Rugby. Along with discussing how she's managed to keep playing and winning for so many years (Sarah is now 37), we explore why rugby is such a powerful sport for challenging traditional societal perceptions of femininity and how the women's game is leading the growth of the sport globally. 

Thanks to Sport England who support The Game Changers through the National Lottery.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Shaunagh Brown is a professional rugby player for Harlequins and England who encourages us all to re-think gender stereotypes in sport and across society.

A former Hammer Thrower who competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Shaunagh trained as a British Gas engineer and a commercial diver, before becoming a full-time firefighter with the Kent Fire and Rescue Service.

Now on a 3-year sabbatical from the fire service, Shaunagh is a full time, professional rugby player, currently playing for England in the Women’s Six Nations having won the Grand Slam in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and for Harlequins who won the Premier 15’s Final in 2021.

Shaunagh recently starred in an Amazon Prime documentary  ‘No Woman, No Try’ which explores inequality through the lens of rugby and the women and men championing change across the sporting community.

After winning the Premier 15s final with Harlequins in 2021 she made a passionate  speech that went viral.

A huge thank you to our partners, Sport England who are kindly supporting the next three series of The Game Changers podcast through the National Lottery.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Sue Day was a legend on the rugby pitch – former England captain at 15s and 7s –Sue played in three World Cups, helped win three Grand Slams and was one of England's top try scorers with 61 tries from 59 caps.

She was made President of Wasps in 2013 – the first woman to hold that role in the club’s 146-year history. 

A qualified chartered accountant with over 20 years’ experience in financial roles at KPMG, Sue is now COO and CFO of the RFU and leads the Business Operations team which includes finance, legal and governance, technology, people, strategy and Twickenham Stadium operations.  

Sue’s also a founding trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust and has been an incredible driving force for equality across women’s sport. It was wonderful to see her recognised for this in 2020 when she was awarded an MBE for her services to gender equality in sport. 

In this interview Sue shares her personal journey in rugby and we explore many of the current challenges and opportunities facing women’s sport. Sue also shares what hosting a home Rugby World Cup could mean for future of the women’s game. 

A huge thank you to our partners, Sport England who are kindly supporting the next three series of The Game Changers podcast through the National Lottery.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production