Matt Ferguson set to rejoin Red Roses coaching staff
John Mitchell brings back forwards specialist Matt Ferguson as scrum and contact coach, bolstering England's pack ahead of a busy October schedule.
England have appointed Matt Ferguson as an assistant coach with a specialist focus on the scrum and contact areas.
John Mitchell has brought Ferguson back as an assistant coach with a specialist focus on the scrum and contact areas. The Rugby Football Union had advertised the post externally after pathway scrum coach Nathan Catt helped the Red Roses to World Cup success last year.
Ferguson's first stint with England ran from 2015 to 2018. In that spell he played a key part in converting Sarah Bern from a back-row forward into one of the world's leading tighthead props. Since then he has spent seven seasons at Northampton before a year as a transition coach at Harlequins.
The appointment follows Shaun Edwards joining as a consultant coach focused on defence, with Mitchell adding to his backroom staff during the WXV Global Series.
Mitchell's side face the World Cup runners-up twice more in October before closing out their year against the United States in New Jersey.
Lock Delaney Burns is a doubt for those fixtures through injury, adding to a second-row shortage that already has Mitchell without captain Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan, all on maternity leave. A touring squad is due to be announced.
Ferguson's return gives Mitchell a specialist voice up front just as his forward stocks are stretched, with the scrum and contact areas the part of the game the RFU had gone looking outside the building to strengthen.
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