FORMER Wales Women’s captain Rachel Taylor has made history after being named Colwyn Bay’s first female head coach.

The leading figure in the progression of women’s rugby in the North Wales region will take over at the WRU National League Division Two North side, with her first competitive clash to take place at Dolgellau on September 1.

Taylor won 67 caps for the national side and played a huge role in the exceptional recent form of RGC Women, where they almost clinched their first every regional competition success.

She has now become the first female coach to take charge of a men’s national league side, and the new-look Bay backroom staff also includes Dan Lycett, Arthur Astbury and Mark Lewin.

Taylor, said: “I wanted to take my coaching up another level this season. I'm starting my Level 3 and the obvious choice would probably have been to simply coach RGC Women or a female side, but having spoken to male colleagues who said they'd learned a lot from coaching women, I'm hoping I'll learn a lot from men's rugby which is a completely different game and will give me a whole new perspective on many areas of my coaching and player management.

"I'm also really looking forward to the challenge of having ownership of a team from start to finish, which is something I haven't done before.

“The club has just been relegated back to Division Two after one season in Division One but there's a good balance of youth coming through and hopefully we'll encourage some more experienced players back to the club. We're looking forward to a good pre-season so that we can enjoy the season on and off the field.

"It's good to know there are a lot of women involved in the club already - as in clubs around Wales. There are also a lot of quality female coaches coming through so I'd say why not coach men's sides? I've seen the likes of my former teammates Catrina Nicholas and Jenny Davies move up the coaching ladder and that has given me confidence to give it a go.”