When, on Valentine’s Day, Eddie Jones put the England squad through their paces in front of 10,000 fans, a group of aspiring coaches were pitch side with the England Rugby development team, thanks to a social media competition.

The eight from across the country were buzzing after watching England in training and  have since stayed connected via their own WhatsApp group where they bounce ideas off each other, share learning and resources. Most recently they have been connecting through video conferencing calls to share their learning from coach development webinars, including coach development Tuesday Training Sessions.

“It was amazing getting to watch England train, seeing how the coaches interact and how they can adapt their sessions," said Stuart Jackson from Farnham Women’s team. "I was fully inspired to apply what I’ve learnt to my kids, women’s and men’s teams and it will help as soon as we are back training and playing.”

Paul Brookes from Bishop Auckland RFC added: “I loved making the connections with my fellow coaches, learning from their experiences, listening to their knowledge and their ideas. Being pitch side watching the England coaching staff and their coaching styles, how they ran the session, was a complete eye opener. We all loved it and are keeping in touch ready to use what we learned once the game’s back to normal.”