South African coach Jackie Kriel hopes more female coaches at the top of the sport can help shift the dial ahead of the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

Kriel took part in World Rugby’s Gallagher High Performance Academy, which seeks to accelerate the development of female coaches in the game, with ten coaches from ten different countries recently undertaking a two-week programme that included working with their respective nations for the HSBC SVNS Series.

And Kriel, who represented the Springbok Women’s Sevens side as a player, is confident the programme can get more women on the touchline ahead of big events like the World Cup next year.

“This is an amazing programme,” she said.

“It is bringing ten coaches together from ten different countries. It is not just about coaching, it is about being strong leaders as women and to really stand out.

“They really equip you with the knowledge and confidence. It is important for academies to come on board and support these programmes so we develop the sport.

“It is another opportunity to develop as a coach. I am involved in coaching part-time and I see this as the next step to getting to full-time coaching. It equips you with that high performance mindset and being able to create that culture and environment for the team as well.

“What I’ve learned most is being authentic and focusing on your strengths as a coach.

“It is important to be visible. If you look at all the teams’ head coaches, the visibility is not there in women’s rugby. It is about getting in there. You need different individuals, you need different personalities, you need male and female versions because people relate to people differently.

“The 2025 World Cup is all about inclusion. You want more teams to participate and have more female coaches. We want to make sure they are equipped and experienced to fulfil the responsibility. 

“The 2025 World Cup is another stepping stone. We can’t look at it and think there is not enough representation of female coaches anymore.”

Kriel currently coaches with Leopards Women in South Africa but has ambitions of forging a path for herself as a full-time coach, with a potential focus on the development process within the national side a focus.

And if Kriel is wanting inspiration, she knows exactly where to look in the form of one coach at the very top of the game, and another she knows better than most.

“First and foremost I want to get into coaching full-time,” she added. “There is quite a big gap between our national players and the next in line so to work with the players coming in.

“My dad was my athletics coach and he was a strong leader. He was consistent and looked further than just the athlete, but at your welfare and the psychological side of things. He was forward thinking. 

“Tactically, Rassie Erasmus. With him, he has this ability of bringing people together and tactically he is unbelievable. The whole squad know their exact roles and responsibilities, and where they fit in. 

“They have the same goal in mind and if you don’t go with the culture, it doesn’t matter about your talent, you are out of the team.”