New Army women's rugby sevens head coach eager to get going

The Army Rugby Union have revealed their new women's sevens team head coach as Warrant Officer Class 1 Paul Willison.

This is WO1 Willison's first job in the Army rugby setup and he's keen to continue the recent rise of military women's rugby from sevens competitions to Twickenham Stadium.

The Army women's sevens team has been growing in size over recent years and won the 2022 Aldershot Sevens bowl competition on Armed Forces Day in June.

"When I was speaking to the other coaches in the ARU (Army Rugby Union) last week, they saw the sevens team as a filter into the 15s squad, so they use it to give a lot of rugby players the opportunity to show their talent on the sevens circuit," the new Army head coach said speaking to the team's website.

"It obviously works both ways as well, and a lot of the 15s players filter down into the sevens when the shorter season starts.

"The first thing we have to do this year is to assess where we're at, go through what they want to achieve and review the competitions the team entered last season. We've got a lot of fixtures coming up in the Easter and summer.

"Then we take it from there and tweak it as we see fit."

WO1 Willison previously led the Army Medical Services team to multiple Cyprus 10s titles and has also achieved success with the England deaf team.

His appointment into the Army rugby setup is something he's been working towards.

"I’ve always wanted to be involved in the Army setup," he says.

"It’s elite sport and the vast array of talent in the Armed Forces feeds into the rugby set-up. As long as you can identify that talent then you're well set.

"The ARU is so well structured on and off the pitch, to be involved is a pleasure."