I want to thank everyone involved in Welsh rugby for symbolically helping our captain Ryan Jones lift that magnificent trophy aloft at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday evening.
We cannot take anything away from our awesome players who used every ounce of their talent, energy and determination to grasp rugby’s most famous prize. Their lives will reflect that honour for the rest of their days.
But the moment the crescendo of triumphant noise filled our great Millennium Stadium shortly after 7pm on March the 15th I spared a silent thought for all those who dedicate so much to ensuring Welsh rugby defines us as a nation. Today I am a proud Welshman.
This is the second time in three years Wales has won the Grand Slam and that rekindles great memories of the 1970’s Golden Era.
I want to make a pledge here and now to the whole of Welsh rugby that the great Grand Slam victory of 2008 will herald the start of a period of unstinting hard work to ensure our game is nurtured, sustained and developed so that we can savour even more success in the future.
As chairman of what is, in effect, a major corporation I am confident the rugby is getting better and better, the business is now in good shape and growing while the clubs, which are our true shareholders, are entering a period which will enrich their place at the heart of our communities.
Be assured, we are already striding along the pathway to that success with clear purpose, confidence and determination.
A foundation stone on that route to the Grand Slam was laid when Roger Lewis, Gerald Davies and I travelled to New Zealand in the dark days last autumn to secure the services of Warren Gatland as Welsh coach. We got our man and made sure he was able to quickly gather around him a fantastic backroom team.
They honed the talent of a squad which had been nurtured through a player pathway already reaping rich rewards and is surely one of the best structures in world rugby. Be assured we will never relax in the knowledge of the truth of that statement and will constantly strive to ensure we are at the forefront of our great game.
Over Christmas we secured the signature of the world renowned sports performance expert Graeme Maw as our first Elite Performance Director and placed Nigel Davies as our new Head of Rugby Development. They are already well advanced in planning to refine our rugby pathway to success which will offer an opportunity for youngsters across Wales to live their dreams of pulling on the cherished red shirt.
As WRU Chairman I am delighted that the pathway is built on the success of all our clubs. North Wales is a key area of development with huge potential and that must be realised.
That pathway leads from our schools and our 241 clubs into our four academies and up through our age grade international teams into our four marvellous regional teams and on to the centre of excellence where Warren Gatland is waiting to invite them onto the senior international stage.
I am delighted we are achieving success across the board. Our women’s team were second in their championship and the Under 20s also got second spot in theirs. Last weekend the Under 18 international team defeated Scotland and go on to challenge in their own Six Nations tournament next week. Good luck to them.
When I mention the four regions I want you to reflect for a moment on the success they are now achieving in the Heineken Cup, the EDF Cup and the Magners League. Good luck to The Ospreys in the EDF semis this weekend and for the Heineken Cup where they share Welsh hopes and our best wishes with the Cardiff Blues.
There can be no doubt that the decision we made to go down the regional route in 2003 has been vindicated and has helped towards the success of our national team.
I thank those benefactors who shared the vision, grasped the moment and committed with unflinching strength and unshakeable determination to build our regional platform from nowhere. Many talked. They acted.
People like Peter Thomas, Mike James, Mike Cuddy, Roger Blyth, Robert Davies, Huw Evans, Tim Griffiths and Martyn Hazell. I thank them. Their investment in structures, facilities and players has delivered successes in both the EDF and the Heineken Cup.
We have developed national and regional facilities that are world class and this development continues with new stadiums in Llanelli and Cardiff being built and exciting new plans at Rodney Parade in Newport pushing ahead. All these follow on the great success of the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. These are all of strategic importance to our platform for excellence.
Our corporate structure of executive staff headed by Roger Lewis reporting to the Board of Directors has proved hugely successful. The finances of the union now sit on a very stable foundation which will show very acceptable results this year.
Our board of directors who have never flinched from making some tough decisions for the long term benefit of our game. They constantly strive to ensure the voice of our great clubs is heard loud and clear at the top level of our game. I thank them for their governance.
Roger Lewis has made changes over the last sixteen months which have led to a fundamental difference to how the game here in Wales is run and operated. He has to be thanked for putting in place a senior management structure which embraces systems which any board of directors will recognise as robust and meaningful. Today we boast the finest executive board in world rugby.
We have had key leaders over the past ten years with Glanmor Griffiths ensuring the stadium was built and then David Moffett reorganising clubs into regions. Mike Ruddock brought us Grand Slam honours before Warren Gatland emulated that feat. Roger Lewis has developed these high standards of success even further.
As a former Welsh international player one aspect of our success which thrills me is that we boast an international fixture list which takes on the best in the world. This year and next the mighty All Blacks and the world champion Springboks feature prominently. What a prospect, what a treat for our loyal supporters and what a boost for our standing on the world rugby stage. Warren Gatland says it is all about playing the best and we do that more often than any of our rivals.
We have, at IRB level, ensured that our fixtures over the past five years have tested us against the best in the world more often than any of our Six Nations competitors with corresponding benefits to the bottom line.
As WRU chairman I know that the moment the Grand Slam trophy was won our off the field staff were already well advanced in their work to build on the success.
I promise you now that the success their efforts bring will be felt throughout Welsh rugby from north to south and east to west across the whole of Wales.
Ryan and his team have delivered this on the field success at a time when elite, Premiership Division and community reviews are outlining the way forward for Welsh rugby. These reviews are in depth and professionally prepared to give us Welsh answers to Welsh questions.
We will use our success to attract more people to this great game of ours and enrich the game at grass roots level through increased participation and enjoyment. Our policies of funding aimed at increasing participation over the last three years have already delivered.
This Grand Slam victory will be honoured across the whole of Wales to allow everyone in the family of Welsh rugby to celebrate our triumph.
There will be formal celebrations involving the Welsh squad and the talking is well underway with our friends from local authorities and the Welsh Assembly Government to honour our heroes.
Alongside that the trophy will be taken across Wales and I want it to be seen at schools and clubs up and down Wales where the men, women and children who are the backbone of our game will see it.
Today we reflect on our triumph and look forward to a fantastic future where no challenge will be shirked and no opportunity ignored.
We had a major success in attracting 2007 Rugby World Cup games to Wales and this year we have secured the inaugural IRB Junior World Championships here as well. Sixteen of the world’s best teams at U20 age group level will be in Wales competing for the trophy – a major event at age group level.
We face the tough times with stalwart determination so let’s enjoy the success. I know that success is built on a solid foundation which will ensure that hard work and talent will earn us more to come.
Thank you Ryan. Enjoy the moment.
