‘Exceptional’ coach joins Australia women’s side before SVNS Perth

On the eve of the third HSBC SVNS Series event of the season, Rugby Australia confirmed on Thursday that Reg Tayler has joined the women’s sevens side as an assistant coach.

Tayler is highly experienced in the art of coaching sevens, which includes a successful two-year stint in Ireland as an assistant coach in both the women’s and men’s sevens programs.

Before that, Tayler was the head coach of the Australia A Women’s Rugby Sevens side and also held a role at the Queensland Academy of Sport where the sevens guru oversaw the development of some of the nation’s best female rugby talent.

As reported by rugby.com.au, Tayler was the “first sevens coach” for current Australia captain Isabella Nasser, and others also benefited from the influence of the world-class coach throughout their rugby sevens development.

Tayler steps into this role following the departure of Olympic gold medallist Emilee Barton who left Rugby Australia at the end of 2024. The team’s new assistant coach joined the squad on Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s SVNS Series stop in Perth.

“We are thrilled to welcome the services of Reg to the Australian Women’s Sevens team” General Manager of Women’s High Performance, Jaime Fernandez, said in a statement.

“For the past 10 years, Reg has been committed to specialising in high performance rugby sevens coaching.

“His experience includes working within the Australian Sevens high performance pathways system and more recently responsible for leading the development and talent identification across Ireland.

“During his tenure with IRFU the women’s team secured their first World Series victory in Perth (2024) and the men’s team finished the 2024 World Series in second place.

“Further to this, both teams competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, making the quarter-finals. We looked forward to him joining the squad and working with our quality of athletes.”

Tayler played a part in Ireland’s incredible run to the women’s title at the SVNS Series event in Perth 12 months ago, with the women in green shocking favourites Australia in that decider.

But the well-respected coach will be looking to help the Aussies go one better on home soil this time around at Perth’s HBF Park. The defending SVNS Series champions will face China, Spain and France in Pool C as they look to book their place in the knockout rounds.

Australia are looking to bounce back from a tough finish at their last SVNS Series event in Cape Town where they were beaten in the semi-finals and the third-place playoff. Before that, the Aussies got the job done in Dubai when they beat rivals New Zealand in the decider.

“Reg is an exceptional coach with huge head coach attributes and potential,” Australia Women’s Sevens coach Tim Walsh added.

“Reg has worked and developed with nearly every player in the current squad. He took the opportunity to travel, learn and expand his trade in a different world-class environment, that being Ireland.

“We are thrilled to have recruited the services of Reg. His appointment guarantees and a strong succession plan and a sustainable future a flagship Rugby Australia program.”