Simon Middleton takes a day off from training camp in England to receive the royal honor
England’s Simon Middleton, who was the first women’s coach to win World Rugby Coach of the Year, has taken a day off for the Six Nations to collect his MBE.
The 56-year-old led the Red Roses through a second consecutive unbeaten calendar year, including back-to-back record wins against world champions New Zealand.
After collecting his MBE for services to rugby from the Prince of Wales at a ceremony at Windsor Castle, he said: “You get an award like this and it’s a fantastic personal award, but you get it. get thanks to the people behind you – my wife and the players.
“When I was told I was getting it, I thought it was really for everyone involved in this case. It’s not just for me. I’m just the very lucky recipient.
“I managed to get out of camp for a day, which is always good. We are back in camp next week and we will face Scotland one week on Saturday for the start of the Six Nations.
In a busy fixture schedule this year, there are also the final two rounds of the Premier 15 league to deal with and ‘then some downtime for the players ahead of a pretty tough summer of training’ ahead of the World Cup in New Zealand in the fall.
England head coach Simon Middleton said he took the day off to receive his royal honor (Bradley Collyer/PA)
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He will only say his side could be counted “probably alongside France” as favorites for success in the Six Nations, as “there is nothing between the teams” despite England’s winning streak.
He said: “It will be really interesting because there have been a lot of changes across all the nations. Wales have moved on to professional contracts and there has been a lot of upswing in the Irish game – you expect a reaction there.
“It looks like some really positive steps have been taken there. France are a fantastic team and they are playing good rugby at the moment.
Mr Middleton beat New Zealander Ian Foster, Australian Dave Rennie as well as Allan Bunting and Cory Sweeney, who oversee the New Zealand women’s sevens team, to be named World Rugby’s 2021 Coach of the Year.
The Red Roses won all four of their Autumn Tests to take their current winning streak to 18 games.
He thinks his World Rugby Coach of the Year award is important for women’s sport.
Mr Middleton said: “I hope this opens the door to further awards in the future as it is recognition for women’s sport and how far women’s rugby has come.
“Getting the coaching award on the back of some of the successes we’ve had (over the last three or four years) will hopefully encourage some of the home nations and international nations to support their women’s game more. .
“I think they want it, but it’s just a question of where they allocate their funds and how they support them. Everyone is working with restrictions, but hopefully this will help promote the game worldwide.