Staff Spotlight: Edward Conway, Director of Rugby
Our pupils do amazing things every single day, but behind those achievements are all of the hardworking staff here at Merchant Taylors' School. In Staff Spotlights we look to explore the diverse backgrounds and skills of the people who make Merchant Taylors' a great place to be. This week we hear from Edward Conway, Director of Rugby.
When Did you join MTS?
September 2020
Tell Us about your subject. What excites you about it? How did you get into it?
I have always enjoyed sport, particularly rugby and football, and grew up an avid Manchester United fan. Football was probably my main sport until I was about 14 when rugby took over. I had some amazing experiences of schoolboy rugby including tours to Italy and France which provided lifelong memories with my friends.
Having gone to the University of Bath I spent time coaching, travelling and working for a start-up in London before transitioning into coaching full-time in 2014. This continued when I moved to MTS in September 2020 as the Rugby Professional, before completing teacher training and becoming Director of Rugby in Summer 2022. As Director of Rugby I love the opportunities that sport provides to learn life skills and values whilst giving pupils with the chance to build connections, with staff and each other, through fantastic shared experiences.
What are you most proud of outside of your work at school?
I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching within the Academy system at London Irish and then London & South Central. It provides me with a useful reset to focus purely on the development of young players in the region and allows me to better understand and advise on the landscape for our MTS boys. There are players I coached as 13 year olds who are now signing professional contracts or playing for their country and it is satisfying to know I played a small part in their developmental journey.
What did you study at A-Level?
English Literature, History, PE and Geography
What piece of media would you recommend and why?
My favourite film is undoubtedly 'Lost in Translation' with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Set in Tokyo, it features two characters who are both metaphorically and literally lost and disconnected in a strange foreign city, detailing the relationship they build as they struggle with jet lag staying at the beautiful Park Hyatt hotel. Murray's character faces a crisis of identity as a very famous actor whilst Johansson's young graduate can't work out what or who she wants to be. I have been fortunate to travel to Japan twice, once with rugby and once to travel, and it is an amazing country. The film excellently captures how mysterious and overwhelming Tokyo can be.
Close runners up are 'In Bruges' and 'Her' which share a similarly melancholic tone.