World Rugby to fund coaching opportunities at 2021 Rugby World Cup

World Rugby has agreed to pay for an extra female coach for every team taking part in the 2021 Rugby World Cup as part of a commitment to increase the number of elite women coaches.

The governing body has set a target of 40 percent of head coaches at the 2025 World Cup being women as opposed to just eight percent (one out of 12) in 2017. In comparison, 38 percent of coaches at the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019 were women.

World Rugby's women's general manager Katie Sadleir said: "At the end of the World Cup, there will be 12 more women who can say on their CV that they have coached at a World Cup.

"It's one of the barriers some women have in terms of getting head coach roles. You get into that chicken and egg situation where they can't get the job because they don't have the experience, and they can't get the experience so they can't get the job."

The 2021 Rugby World Cup is being held in New Zealand in September and October next year.