Changing THE GAME

Victoria Grant never set out to be the first, but her coaching mentor Tabai Matson would like to see some blokes get out of the way in order to ensure she isn’t the last.

Matson means it in the nicest possible way. But the New Zealand under-20s and soon to be Harlequins coach believes some men are blocking the path for qualified women to come through the rugby coaching ranks in both the men’s and women’s games.

It’s partly why Matson recruited Grant as his skills coach with the under-20s, making her the first woman to be coaching a men’s high performance national or professional team. But he also wants it known in no uncertain terms that the two time World Cup