Lewis Moody MBE will go down in history as one of England’s finest and most charismatic rugby players. The former England Captain and World Cup Winner was nicknamed Mad Dog for the endless commitment and fearlessness with which he played, he never left anything on the pitch and arguably there has not been a more committed individual in the game.

With 71 caps for his country Moody has a host of accolades to his name including 3 Lions caps, a World Cup Winners medal, two Six Nations titles, seven Premiership triumphs and two Heineken Cup wins; the former England Captain is a true world rugby legend and a gentleman to boot.

In 2013 after Lewis was forced to retire through injury, he launched himself into creating and facilitating short intense rugby courses to help young players to develop their skill set and pitch confidence. Encapsulating the values and all round ethos rugby offers (something Lewis himself was impacted by), in 2015 the courses developed into full time 6th form rugby enrichment programmes, set up within schools.

Outside of Mad Dog, Lewis is working with a number of companies to develop himself further in Business and Sport Leadership consultancy, with an eye to becoming a facilitator in the near future.

In 2013 he launched the Lewis Moody Foundation which supports families affected by serious illness offering family day experiences for those affected, running extreme events and challenges for fundraisers and funding scientific research through the Brain Tumour Charity.

He’s still involved in various voluntary roles including working with the RFU as a member of the EAGR committee, speaking at numerous events and being associated with a number of British brands. However, turning out every Sunday morning as a Bath U11’s rugby coach with his youngest son, is a weekly highlight!

Originally coming from a dance background, Annie understands the demands and requirements needed to fulfil practical studies along side academics. Following on from dance, Annie studied Interior Design and within two years set up a company with a colleague. Running a company for 10 years gave Annie the experience and knowledge she has today and for which is applied to Mad Dog Sport. After taking time out to have a family and in partnership with Lewis, they set up Mad Dog Sport in 2013 to develop rugby at a grass roots level, running events and courses for young aspiring players. In 2015 this evolved into full time 6th form programmes in schools.

Annie’s passion in seeing how sport plays such a huge part in the development of young people is the driving force of her vision to expand the programmes into more schools, and in doing so, growing the impact that could be made to young lives and their communities.

In 2013 she co-founded the Lewis Moody Foundation which supports families through The Brain Tumour Charity, funding vital research, building awareness and giving families affected, activity days out to make lasting memories.

Annie volunteers through the summer and winter as a youth rugby and cricket manager for her sons’ teams. So if lost, can be found on the side of a pitch somewhere in the UK!

In the summer of 2019 Annie succeeded in climbing up the ‘North Face’ of Kilimanjaro as a charity fundraiser for the foundation raising over £40,000. The 3rd ever group to do this route.

Tom Bowen-Hall joined Mad Dog Sport in August 2017 as the Assistant Coach at Melksham Oak School and within a year was promoted to Head of Rugby.

Tom began coaching rugby whilst studying for a Business and Management degree at Aberystwyth University. His passion for coaching and desire to improve led him to a Master’s degree in Sports Coaching attained from the University of Gloucestershire. During this time Tom completed his RFU Level 2 coaching qualification and took up the Head Coach role for Frampton Cotterell Colts. Alongside this role, he also coaches the U15’s DPP squad at Bristol Rugby.

Last year Tom expanded his role within the company taking over the lead in Transition for all players and through his dedication to his coaching and vision was promoted in 2020 to Director of Rugby, across all schools.

Tom has recently been awarded his RFU Level 3 qualification and has been promoted to a Centre Manager for Bristol Bears’ Pathway Academy.

In October 2020, Tom was shortlisted in UK Coaching Awards “Children and Young people’s Coach of the Year” category, down to the final three, winning the overall award. We are so proud of Tom on achieving this recognition.

We are delighted to have seen Tom’s progression through Mad Dog and with a move to Head of Rugby at Royal Wootton Bassett we are looking forward to seeing what this year holds with developing the RWBA squad and Mad Dog Sport further.

Gemma Rowland joined Mad Dog Sport in August 2021 as the Assistant Coach at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy. Gemma first started playing rugby whilst attending Colston’s School, after persuading the school to allow girls to play rugby as an extra curricular activity – her school team went on to win the Rosslyn Park National School 7s; twice. With a new found passion for rugby, Gemma continued playing whilst attending Exeter University, where she studied Sport and Exercise Science, and upon graduating, joined the British Army as a Commissioned Officer.

High motivation and ambitious in nature, Gemma has successfully balanced her military career with her devotion to rugby throughout her career; representing both the British Army and UK Armed Forces on the field. In 2015, she was awarded her first International cap for Wales, in the 6 Nations opening game against England. Since then, Gemma has earned 19 International 15s caps, 10 International 7s caps and played in the World Cup 2017 and Commonwealth Games 2018. After completing her RFU Level 2, and delivering coaching to a variety of teams within the Army, Gemma realised she had a passion for coaching, as an avenue to pass on the knowledge and playing experience she has gained. Gemma is excited for the opportunity to further develop her coaching ability as part of the Mad Dog team.

Off of the field, Gemma has recently completed a Masters in Strength & Conditioning at Cardiff Metropolitan University, with a focus on Long Term Athletic Development in youth athletes; knowledge which she hopes to build on under the Mad Dog Athletic development programme.

Gemma is also an ambassador for the Mental Health charity ‘Brave Mind’; she believes that mental and physical wellness programmes are essential for young people to better understand how to cope with the pressures and stressors of daily life; something which we place great emphasis on in the Mad Dog Programme.