Northern | US

Salvin departs Exeter after one season as head coach for full-time Test rugby role

EXETER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 6: Exeter Chiefs' Head Coach Steve Salvin during the Premiership Women's Rugby match between Exeter Chiefs and Bristol Bears at Sandy Park on December 6, 2025 in Exeter, England. (Photo by Bob Bradford - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

Steve Salvin has left Exeter Chiefs after one season as head coach to take on a full-time role as Wales’ forwards coach.

ADVERTISEMENT

In his sole season as head coach of the Devon club, Salvin took Chiefs back to knockout rugby at the first time of asking. Exeter were beaten 40-38 by eventual Premiership Women’s Rugby champions Saracens in the semi-final.

Salvin was seconded to Wales as their forwards coach on a part-time basis for the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations. Now the former Rotherham Titans, Leeds Carnegie and Worcester Warriors coach will now help Wales prepare for their WXV Global Series fixtures in September and August.

VIDEO

Steve Salvin, Wales forwards coach, said: “The chance to work at Test match level during the recent W6N campaign was an opportunity that I relished and to get to do this on a full-time basis is an exciting one.

“It was my first real time coaching in Wales, and you feel the passion for rugby when you are around the players and when the team plays. I had coached against Sean in the PWR and thoroughly enjoyed working and coaching alongside him, Tyrone and Ashley Beck.

“We share the same values, work ethic and the same ambition of building a new team identity and playing philosophy. There was so much improvement over the W6N and the players desire to learn and improve was a key factor in wanting to do this job on a full-time basis.

“We all share the same goal of building real foundations for sustained success, and we have some really exciting talent coming through the pathway, age-grade sides and the Celtic Challenge.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Before Salvin was head coach of Exeter he coached the side to back-to-back PWR Finals in 2022 and 2023 as an assistant coach under Susie Appleby.

Related

Wales have confirmed that fixtures against the USA Women’s Eagles [Friday 18 September] and Springbok Women [Saturday 26 September] will form their WXV Global Series home fixtures.

Sean Lynn, Wales head coach, said: “Steve is a coach I knew well and respected from my time in the PWR, but I was really impressed with his technical expertise and how he relates to players in the women’s game.

“He made a real impact in a short time during the recent Six Nations, and I am delighted he will now come on board full-time with Wales.”

ADVERTISEMENT

RugbyPass App Download

News, stats, live rugby and more! Download the new RugbyPass app on the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) now!


Whether you’re looking for somewhere to track upcoming fixtures, a place to watch live rugby or an app that shows you all of the latest news and analysis, the RugbyPass rugby app is perfect.

Stream Nations Championship 2026 LIVE

Hemispheres collide in the new Nations Championship. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.

Watch on RPTV
Starts 4th July 2026 - USA only.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Close
ADVERTISEMENT
Copied to clipboard

Share Article close