Steve Salvin has left his role as head coach of Exeter Chiefs to be Wales women’s full-time forwards coach, working under Sean Lynn.

Salvin was seconded from his role as Exeter Chiefs Women’s head coach to take up an interim position during Wales’ 2026 Women’s Six Nations campaign.

He will now join the Wales coaching set-up on a full-time basis as the sides prepares for their WXV campaign in the autumn.

Salvin was head coach for the 2026/27 season following four seasons as assistant coach in charge of forwards and defence.

He led the Chiefs to the PWR semi-finals in 2026 and has worked as an assistant coach at Sandy Park since 2021 before his promotion to head coach.

He arrived in Devon after two years as head coach of Rotherham Titans after a three-year stint as Yorkshire Carnegie’s academy coach.

“The chance to work at Test match level during the recent W6N campaign was an opportunity that I relished and to get to do this on a full-time basis is an exciting one,” Salvin, said.

“It was my first real time coaching in Wales, and you feel the passion for rugby when you are around the players and when the team plays.

“I had coached against Sean in the PWR and thoroughly enjoyed working and coaching alongside him, Tyrone and Ashley Beck.

“We share the same values, work ethic and the same ambition of building a new team identity and playing philosophy.

“The was so much improvement over the W6N and the players desire to learn and improve was a key factor in wanting to do this job on a full-time basis.

“We all share the same goal of building real foundations for sustained success, and we have some really exciting talent coming through the pathway, age-grade sides and the Celtic Challenge.”

Wales open their WXV campaign with two home fixtures at Cardiff Arms Park against South Africa on Friday, September 18th and USA on Saturday, September 26th, before two Test matches against Japan away from home.

“Steve is a coach I knew well and respected from my time in the PWR, but I was really impressed with his technical expertise and how he relates to players in the women’s game,” Lynn added.

“He made a real impact in a short time during the recent Six Nations, and I am delighted he will now come on board full-time with Wales.”

Welsh Rugby Union Director of Rugby and Elite Performance, Dave Reddin, said: “Steve was the outstanding candidate during a rigorous and robust interview process and made a real impact during the Six Nations.

“He clearly had gained a real insight into the players and team culture in the Wales senior side during the tournament and there was clear evidence of his technical coaching expertise during the tournament.”

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