Sione Fukofuka has been appointed the new Scotland women’s rugby head coach, stating he is “honoured and privileged” to take up the position.
Scottish Rugby have been searching for someone to take on the position heading into 2026 and beyond after Bryan Easson’s five years in the role came to an end after the Rugby World Cup in the summer.
Australian Fukofuka brings a decade of experience across international women’s and men’s rugby teams to the table. This began with a coaching role within the Australian youth women’s sevens team and then the Australian men’s sevens team in 2019.
A trained teacher, Fukofuka joined the Australia women’s national team as assistant coach in 2021 before moving to his most recent role as head coach of the USA women’s national team in 2023, a post which he held through to the culmination of the World Cup in England a few months ago.
Fukofuka will join Scottish Rugby in January, subject to visa, and will be relocating to Scotland to be based in Edinburgh.
“I am honoured and privileged to have the opportunity to lead the Scotland women’s programme,” he said.
“Scottish Rugby’s vision and direction for the future of the women’s programme is one that drew me to the role.
“An aligned domestic pathway and emphasis on the increasing professionalism of the senior programme through the Celtic Challenge and the senior Scotland women’s team is exciting.
“I look forward to connecting with the talented players, quality staff and invested stakeholders across the programme to drive a high-performance environment that develops the players to their potential and produces a style of rugby that can be successful.”
Scottish Rugby’s managing director of women’s rugby Gemma Fay added: “Sione’s appointment is key to the next step in the development of our Scotland Women national team.
“It is an exciting year with the new global calendar set to begin the next world cup cycle in earnest and give our international players a higher level of consistent opposition throughout the season.
“Sione’s experience in different women’s high-performance environments and coaching knowledge make him an excellent fit for the next chapter of our women’s team and new high-performance programme.
“Our new women’s high performance and pathway manager Andy Rhys Jones also starts in January and will be key to ensuring the alignment between the on field aspects and the development of our pathway.
“They both will be working closely with all players in the programme, as well as our Celtic Challenge teams Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors, and we look forward to working with them as we move into our new women and girls strategy in 2026.”
Fukofuka’s appointment aligns with the start of the countdown to Rugby World Cup 2029 in Australia and the start of the new groundbreaking global women’s calendar, which now includes home and away matches in September and October alongside the Guinness Women’s Six Nations tournament, as part of an upweighted international schedule.
The next Scotland women’s Test is due to be away to Wales on April 11 in the Six Nations opener.
Sione Fukofuka is pictured – thanks to World Rugby