Shaunagh Brown: 'If you think that, you don’t know what you’re talking about'

Shaunagh Brown believes that Jo Yapp is the “best person” to lead the first-ever British & Irish Lions Women’s Team against New Zealand’s Black Ferns in 2027.

Yapp was unveiled as the head coach for the Lions’ impending maiden tour last week. The 46-year-old former England scrum-half is currently the Head of Women’s Pathways with England Rugby and will join the Lions on a part-time basis from July and full-time in January 2027 as preparations for the inaugural Howden British & Irish Lions Women’s Series start to ramp up.

Former England international, Brown, has been a part of the Lions Women’s process since Royal London launched a feasibility study in 2021.
Yapp’s appointment as the first Lions Women’s head coach and the approach of the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby final signals that the historic tour is rapidly approaching.

While having never been coached by Yapp directly, Brown thinks that the former Wallaroos boss has the resume to excel in the role.

“She’s always been such a force within the rugby scene across the game,” Brown told RugbyPass. “I describe her as a servant of her game. One of those people.

“Of course, she used to play for England and then gone onto her coaching journey. What I really like about her, it’s twofold, it’s her perspective.

“She’s been head coach of a club, been head coach of a country, she’s been head coach of an invitational team in the Barbarians, Head of Pathways at England. She has so many different perspectives on the game. Where some coaches don’t.

“The other part of her is what she does for people and human beings and her cultural belief. I think she is the best person to bring four different nations together. That in itself is a task.

“It’s all well and good putting 15 good rugby players on the pitch and hoping for the best, but this is going to be a lot more than that. This is going to be about bringing them together for the greater good.”

During Yapp’s time in charge of Australia it was clear that the 46-year-old had forged a deep, meaningful relationship during her two years with the squad.

In the press conference after the Wallaroos’ quarter-final exit at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, the team’s captain Siokapesi Palu had tears in her eyes when asked about the Englishwoman’s impact on the squad.

It is that ability to bind a group to a collective cause that has set Yapp aside over the years. It is one of the reasons that the players she coached at England Under-20, University of Exeter, the Barbarians and Worcester Warriors all glow about the 70-cap international.

That knack for bringing people together could be vital when gathering the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales for an historic first Lions Women’s tour in 14 months’ time.

“People would walk on hot coals for her,” Brown said. “She brings out better in a player, and you’ve got so many people saying it’s going to be England dominated and nobody else will get a chance.

“First of all, if you think that, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re obviously not watching the Six Nations. If you’re telling me Aoife Wafer’s not got a chance of making that time, I’d tell you to pipe down.

“It’s getting the players to realise that they’ve got more. They’ve got more in them. They’ve got more to give, and Jo Yapp will be the person to bring it out.

“For this to be the first ever Women’s tour, there’s no precedent. I was on the viability study when we spoke about this Lions team working and whether we needed a quota. No, we don’t. And what is Lions DNA? What do we stick to? It was about every single element, whether it be coaching staff and players.

“It’s all about being the best of the best. We are just choosing the best person for the job. Nobody’s here to tick a box. What we have is the freedom to do is show how the women’s game is different than the men’s.

“We don’t have to do anything the men have done before. The men have their precedent. They have their way of doing things.”

‘This is a pretty cool partnership’

Brown was speaking at Medway RFC to help launch Royal London’s annual Championing Women and Girls’ Rugby Award.

It is the third year of the award, with one applicant club from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales chosen to receive a trophy and a £10,000 grant to invest in their women and girls’ programme.

In 2024, Royal London also gave the rugby unions of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales £3 million to invest into their female coaches and players ahead of the 2027 tour.

Successful clubs have shown a significant commitment to growing participation and representation for across all aspects of their club. Applications for the grant increased from 130 to 250 across the first two years and applications are open until midday of Monday 20 July.

“I was part of the viability study back in 2021 that Royal London funded and it was a question of whether it would happen,” Brown said.

“Now to see it literally come through the stages of life and coming to fruition. A ball hasn’t been kicked yet, and Royal London have put so much into it. This is a pretty cool partnership.

“They truly believe in us and everything they do around rugby. These grassroots awards are going to a club from each nation and it’s a recognition of our nations coming together.”

Guisborough RFC and Lancaster Lionesses are previous winners of the grant. Money has been used to build changing rooms and community coaching. Crucially aiding the development of grassroots women’s rugby.

Sat in the clubhouse of Medway RFC, Brown is almost instantly transported to her rugby introduction 11 years ago at the club. It was in Kent, down the road from her home in Gillingham, that she first picked up a rugby ball and kick-started a career that saw her win an Allianz Premier 15s title with Harlequins and represent England at a Women’s Rugby World Cup.

“It gave me a sense of belonging and that sense of place for me,” Brown said. “Growing up as a girl, I was very much a tomboy. I’d grown up in a society where, as a girl I was told to calm down, be quiet and that my hair looked pretty. Being judged on what you look like.

“To come to a club where I am encouraged to be bigger, stronger, louder, be more of yourself – I was like, that’s pretty cool, I’m going to be good at this rugby thing.”

Royal London, the only Founding Partner of The British & Irish Lions Women’s rugby team, has announced that applications are open for its annual Championing Women and Girls’ Rugby Award. Applications are open until 12pm on Monday 20 July 2026 via the Lions website