Sale Sharks are delighted to confirm that Tom Hudson will take over as the club’s women’s Head Coach at the end of the current PWR season.
The 30-year-old joins Sharks from Leicester Tigers, where he held the position of Senior Coach with the club’s women’s team, before being promoted to Head Coach ahead of the 2024/25 season.
The move means a return home for Heaton Moor native Tom, who was part of the Sharks DPP as a teenager but went on to play for Leicester and Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership.
Prior to joining Tigers as a coach, he was Head Coach at Ampthill Rugby in the Championship and Club Lead Coach at Cheltenham Tigers, working with women’s and men’s players.
He will start work in his new role in following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season, allowing him the time to prepare for the start of the 2025/26 PWR campaign.
Tom said: “I grew up in Heaton Moor, I was part of the DPP and Sale Sharks is my family club so I’m really excited to be coming back to a club, a city and a region that means so much to me.
“This club has so much potential and if we can build on the brilliant work that’s gone before, and add to the talented group we’ve already got, then I know we can create a winning culture and something that young girls in the north aspire to be a part of. That’s the higher purpose that’s really important to me.
“On the men’s side of the club, the owners and coaches have created an environment where top players know they can achieve their ambitions at Sale Sharks. I want to create that on the women’s side too.
“To do that we need to get the cornerstones and the basics right and have a brand of rugby that we’re all proud of. I know the new coaching group that we’ve brought together is going to do that.
“It’s a massively exciting project but it’s important to say that we’re taking on a project, not starting something from scratch because loads of brilliant work has gone on already. Our job now is to take it to the next level.”
Sale Sharks Women programme lead Katy Daley-Mclean said: “Tom is one of the brightest young coaches in the game and he has done wonders with the programme at Leicester in his two years there.
“But what excited me the most when I spoke to him was his passion for the club and this region and for growing the women’s game in the north. On top of that, I love the identity that I feel he can bring to the group because he’s someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and will continue to drive the culture that we have created since the team was formed.
“Rachel Taylor did a phenomenal job to build a structure and a base and it’s really exciting to have someone like Tom come in now because he sees the potential in what we’re building here.
“I’m absolutely convinced that he’s the right person to build on what we’ve already achieved and take this team on to the next level.”
