England national head coaches announced

The national team head coaches have been announced for the next 12 months.

Ben Smith (MO), Simon Clare (WO), Justin Conway (XO), Gary Lambert (W27) and Martin Wright (XS) will be taking charge of their respective teams in the build-up to the 2018 European Championships.

They are all at this weekend's Ryvita Touch Nationals in Cambridgeshire to assess the talent on show in their categories with a view to choosing squads in the not-too-distant future.

All of the coaches were appointed following a thorough selection process, and the ETA's high performance department would like to thank all of the other strong applicants who put their names forward for consideration. It was certainly very encouraging to see a number of new names wishing to be involved at the top level of the sport.

The head coaches for the Masters and Juniors teams will be announced in due course.