Wales’ new coach, who has not yet been named, will be responsible for women’s rugby, a role the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) intends to establish in 2025.

The new role is created following the departure of Nigel Walker as the governing body’s executive director of rugby. Before his departure, Ioan Cunningham left his role as Wales women’s head coach.

The governing body said: “The senior role will directly manage the Wales Women’s Head Coach, set and implement strategy for women’s and women’s football across Wales and be an integral part of WRU High Performance Team.

Walker resigned following what the WRU described as a “meticulous and extensive review” of the high-performance element of the men’s game, with Warren Gatland remaining head coach of the Wales men’s team despite a series record defeats in 12 Tests.

Walker, chief executive Abi Tierney and chairman Richard Collier-Keywood have overseen a turbulent period in the WRU’s history, with Welsh rugby’s governing body saying in November it would apologize for its handling of contract negotiations with the senior women’s team after admitting “serious failings”. .

Collier-Keywood said Walker, who participated in the initial negotiations, acknowledged that “things should have been done better.”

The row came less than a year after a damning independent review of the WRU’s culture, following a BBC Wales investigation, found it to be sexist, misogynistic, racist and homophobic, aspects not being properly contested.

The WRU has just published its full report on its governance of women’s football.

Accordingly, the governing body also announced: