Newest Cohort of 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy Coaches Announced – Involved In World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2025

World Rugby and Gallagher have announced the next 12 women coaches participating in the 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA) – they will be involved in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger programme which starts with the opening two legs in Cape Town, kicking off on 1st March at Athlone Stadium. Two Asian candidates are included in the 12 announced.

The partners said that the Academy is an “integral part of World Rugby’s strategic plan to advance the global development of women in rugby with the mission to elevate the prominence of coaches and other high-performance roles for women at the elite levels of the sport.

World Rugby and Gallagher have announced a further extension of the GHPA after initially expanding the programme in 2024 to support all formats of the women’s game.

World Rugby’s Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said: “We are already witnessing the positive impact of the programme. It is a testament to the academy’s success that we now have women coaching half of the women’s teams in HSBC SVNS 2025. ….The Gallagher High Performance Academy continues to create significant learning and development experiences through the workshop programme and through being fully immersed in the coaching teams.”

Christopher Mead, Chief Marketing Officer for Gallagher, added: “We are thrilled to reinforce our commitment to women in the rugby space by extending the Gallagher High Performance Academy to the HSBC SVNS Challenger series. Through this extension, we are able to deepen our connections with the women’s game and continue to build a great bond with the rugby community as a whole.”

Who Are the 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy Coaches

Since 2023, the GHPA has supported 32 coaches across both 15s and sevens. Several Asian candidates have been involved over recent years, and two more are announced in the next cohort, with both Le Nim Yan Melody Blessing (HKCR), and Chiotchanok Yusri (Thailand) confirmed.

Le Nim Yan Melody Blessing (HKCR) – 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy Coach

Le Nim Yan Melody Blessing said of coaching, “I started coaching because I wanted to introduce rugby to others, and this programme is important as it provides the opportunity for female coaches to further improve their high performance coaching skills, and also to showcase their abilities to take up these roles.”

Chiotchanok Yusri said, “This programme provides an opportunity for female coaches to develop their potential on a global stage, with experienced and highly-skilled instructors – especially in countries where women have limited opportunities to showcase their abilities…..My coaching role model is Yuka (see the article at the end). I am incredibly proud of her becoming the first female Head Coach of a national team in Asia.”

Chiotchanok Yusri – Thailand – 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy Coach

The 2025 HSBC Sevens Challenger series will see seven nations participating in the Gallagher High Performance Academy for the first time, including Argentina, Belgium, Czechia, Hong Kong China, Poland, Thailand and Uganda.

• Li Nim Yan Melody Blessing –  Hong Kong China – A previous captain for the HKCR women, she has played both 7 and 15s for HKCR and was a gold medal winner in Sevens at the 2023 Asian Games, in Hangzhou.
• Chitchanok Yusri – Thailand – A wing for the national Sevens team for ten years, she started coaching in 2019.
• Magali Fazzi – Argentina
• Emilie Musch – Belgium
• Camila Lopera –  Columbia
• Alexandra Žirovnická – Czechia
• Mary Ochieng – Kenya
• Karina Landeros – Mexico
• Karolina Jaszczyszyn – Poland
• Fetuao Tamala – Samoa
• Lorinda Brown – South Africa
• Nyangoma Norah Traton – Uganda

More details on the 2025 Gallagher High Performance Academy coaches can be seen here.

How Does the GHPA Help & Success Stories

Off the field, participants in the GHPa “receive mentor support and get to take part in a series of workshops, tailored to cover a variety of topics, ranging from game planning, tactics and skill development, to relationships, communication and creating the right culture as well as presenting participants with the opportunity to network, transfer knowledge and further share best practices,” said a statement announced the news.

Christopher Mead said, “We have already seen some amazing success stories from the first two years of the Gallagher High Performance Academy, with alumni taking on leadership roles at the highest levels of the game. We have no doubt that this new cohort will excel in similar ways, and we look forward to following their progress.”

Two examples of success stories are current Brazil Women’s 7s Head Coach Crystal Kaua and the Sakura Sevens team in 2024 Yuka Kanematsu:

• Crystal Kaua – She made history by being the first woman to coach As Yaras (Brazil women) sevens. Kaua had been part of New Zealand’s coaching staff at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (winning gold) and served as the Chiefs Manawa head coach in Super Rugby Aupiki, where she also participated in the inaugural GHPA during WXV1 in 2023. The Brazil team beat Australia for the first time in the 2025 season in Vancouver.
• Yuka Kanematsu – The former Japanese national player took over the Skura 7s Head Coach role in 2024 just before the current SVNS Seroes and her involvement in the GHPA was while serving as the head coach of the Women’s Sevens Youth Academy. The Japanese women have broken several milestones this season and reached their first-ever semifinal in Vancouver in 2025.

Sarah Hunter, Gallagher Ambassador and GHPA WXV 2023 alumni commented, “As the women’s game continues to grow, there’s a natural synergy with the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, which is set to be the most accessible tournament yet. With more nations involved than ever before, and some participating for the first time, this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup will undoubtedly be a huge celebration of women’s rugby and a generational moment for the sport, uniting fans globally.

“It’s exciting to see so many GHPA alumni and participants progressing into full-time coaching and high-performance roles, and I’m hoping we’ll see lots more embedded in their national teams at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, showcasing the programme’s lasting influence at the highest level of women’s rugby.”

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