The married coaches targeting Twickenham glory

A former international rugby player is preparing for her eighth Twickenham appearance, and her first as part of a husband and wife coaching team.

Georgina Gulliver retired from playing in 2019 having won 37 caps for England and despite attempting to walk away from the game, became the head coach of Ivybridge Women in Devon the following year.

"Coaching was never on the agenda," Gulliver said, adding that when the opportunity arose the former scrum-half was in "hook, line and sinker".

Finding an assistant coach took slightly longer than anticipated with her husband Ben, a former Worcester and Cornish Pirates second-row, initially turning it down.

The 45-year-old had decided he did not want to coach again after leaving his previous role, but had a sudden change of heart.

"Initially it was a no, but then it was a pretty quick yes once I'd realised," he said before pausing to joke that he "was pretty much told" to take the role by his wife.

"I had said to myself that the only thing I would go back into was women's coaching, because I had done it previously back in 2012 when I was at Worcester; I coached Lichfield and had the best time," he said.

It is a decision that has paid off for the couple with Ivybridge gaining promotion to the second tier of women's rugby following an unbeaten league campaign, as well as earning a place in the RFU's Intermediate Cup Final against Old Albanians IIs at Twickenham on Sunday.

"We challenge each other, don't we?" added Georgina, who has played at the home of English rugby seven times during a career that saw her win four Premiership titles with Saracens.

"The players might say differently but we balance each other out quite nicely," she said.

"I tend to go in as bad cop and demand a bit more of them, demand the high standards. Whereas they go to Ben when they've got a hen do and aren't available!"

"And my first line is have you spoken to Georgie," added Ben, who has made two Twickenham appearances of his own as a player.

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