Ex-England hooker Tommy Taylor's coaching career moves up a step

Former England hooker Tommy Taylor has been appointed as forwards coach at National 1 side Sedgley Park, after impressing as new England coach Byron McGuigan’s sidekick at Lancashire outfit Rossendale.

The former Sale Sharks team-mates led Rossendale to promotion to National 2 North in 2024/25, but Taylor will be working a level up at nearby Sedgley Park next season, alongside his new full-time job in leadership and performance.

Taylor, who was capped against Wales in 2016, confirmed last month that he’d been forced to retire from playing due to injury, having not featured at all this season.

He played around 250 games of pro rugby during two spells at Sale, either side of five seasons at Wasps, but now his focus is on his new day job, coaching and recovering from the nerve damage that led to him hanging up his boots.

“Every player wants to retire on their own terms, but sadly, that hasn’t been the case for me,” he said in a column in The Rugby Paper.

“My back went into spasm during training, and then over the next few days, I started to get a lot of nerve pain and my leg just switched off. I lost a lot of strength down the back of my left leg, in my calf and hamstring, and it still hasn’t come back.  I’m alright driving, but it’s left me with a bit of a limp and I definitely can’t run.

“I had a back operation to remove the disc that caused the nerve damage and now it’s just waiting for the movement to come back. I’d like to play football with my kids, I’ve got a three-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy, and I am hopping around after them at the moment, which isn’t ideal.

“As much as injuries stalled my career at times, and ultimately finished it off, they gave me a great opportunity to get out of the bubble of professional sport and explore how I can develop outside of the game,” he added.

“I did a Leadership & Management degree in my early 20s and have always found leadership coaching fascinating. This has led me to Leading-Edge-Performance, who have been brilliant to work with over the past few years, and now to work for them full-time.”

While Taylor’s coaching is trending upwards, McGuigan, the defence coach at Sale, has reached the top, having been selected to be part of Steve Borthwick’s backroom team for this summer’s England tour to Argentina and the USA.

“I couldn’t imagine not being involved in rugby to some degree, and this year I’ve been coaching Rossendale with Byron McGuigan. I’ve taught him everything! He needed my help getting promotion after three years of trying, which we got, and now he is an England coach! I’d say he owes me a pint.

“Next season I’m going to be at Sedgley Park, as part of Scott Barrow’s coaching team, which I’m really looking forward to.”