Liza Burgess, the celebrated former Women’s rugby trailblazer, player and decorated senior coach – who is a veteran of four Rugby World Cups and won 87 caps for Wales – joined the WRU Council at the AGM, after winning recent club elections, and Davies has revealed she is now the only candidate standing for the position of WRU Director, vacated by the retiring Anthony Buchanan.
Davies has recently overseen dynamic governance change at Welsh rugby’s top table, which has reduced the size of the Board in number from 19 to 12 members, and has campaigned determinedly for club members to help increase diversity and representation by attracting new candidates to senior positions.
The 320 member clubs and districts of the WRU have already received praise from Davies for the high standard of candidate nominated for recent Council elections which also saw Jeff Davies of Seven Sisters rugby club and Colin Wilks of Risca elected.
“This is a truly historic moment for the good governance of our game,” said Davies, of Burgess’s prospective election.
“It’s a moment we have worked towards and one which we must continue to work towards recreating, again and again, as we strive to increase and diversify the pool of talent which represents our great clubs at Board level.”
Burgess is due to be formally elected as a WRU Director at a Council meeting chaired by new WRU President Gerald Davies, also to be held at Principality Stadium, next Tuesday.
Davies officially began his tenure as President at the conclusion of a final AGM for incumbent Dennis Gethin, who has served in Welsh rugby’s top ambassadorial post for the last 12 years.
And the chairman, Davies, was also keen to record his gratitude for the hardwork, dedication and unwavering and statesmanlike gravitas of his outgoing President:
“Thank you Dennis for everything you have done for the game in Wales,” he said.
“There is no higher praise I can offer than to say Dennis has followed in the footsteps of some of the greatest rugby men in the history of our game and not only fulfilled the role astutely and with tremendous grace, but also taken it on in leaps and bounds and made it his own.
“We look forward with great anticipation to greeting your successor Gerald Davies in the coming weeks, who I know will take great inspiration from the way you have conducted yourself during your time in Welsh rugby’s highest ambassadorial office.
“We also extend a debt of gratitude to departing National Council Member and Director Anthony Buchanan and District council members Geraint Edwards and Ian Jeffery who also leave their posts today as we welcome Liza Burgess and new District Council Members Colin Wilks and Jeff Davies to their roles.”
During a 15 minute address to assembled chairmen and other key figures from rugby clubs around Wales, Davies went on to call for action and cooperation in determining a brighter future for the game at all levels throughout the country.
He said building on the sustained period of international success which we have been privileged to enjoy in recent times is an important priority in the year ahead and was joined on stage at the home of Welsh rugby by CEO Martyn Phillips and Community Director Geraint John who described plans for a new strategy for the club game.
“We have a revitalised governance structure with a smaller, more focussed board supported by an active and committed Community sub-board and a Council that now provides the opportunity to elect a more diverse and inclusive membership that reflects the wider constituent parts of our game in Wales,” said Davies
“Our current strategic plan which was introduced soon after Martyn Phillips started as CEO in 2015 has served us well…collectively, we have been successful.
“But success is perhaps the best reason for driving change. In a world moving faster than ever, today’s success can be a springboard for positive transformation now and in the future. We must address challenges head on and adapt to our rapidly changing environment.
“Thank you to all WRU members for the role you have played in the very fabric of our game in Wales. Without the contribution of all community clubs, schools, universities and our professional regions there would be no successful national team.
“Collectively we have delivered transformational governance reform, unprecedented growth and the opportunity for greater inclusivity and diversity in our game.
“I am certain that together we can build on this excellent progress as we look to the future which, as always, is full of challenges.”
Liza Burgess factfile:
Liza Burgess is the player who keeps on making Welsh rugby history. She captained Wales Women in their first international in 1980, went on to win a then record 87 caps over a 20 year period and in 2018 became the first Welsh woman to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Not content with having an extraordinary playing career, she has gone on to coach both Wales Women U20 and Barbarians and developed into one of our top female coaches and, next week, she will be welcomed into another new fold, as the first elected female to the Welsh Rugby Union Board in 138 years.
Rugby politics is nothing new to the former Great Britain, Barbarians and Wales legend known to her peers as ‘Bird’. As one of the pioneers of the women’s game in the United Kingdom she helped to set-up the women’s club at Saracens and then went on to lead them to the treble.
Her incredible achievements in the women’s game led to her joining four other legendary rugby figures in being inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in Rugby last year. Stephen Larkham (Australia), Ronan O’Gara (Ireland), Pierre Villepreux (France) and Bryan Williams (New Zealand) couldn’t have been in better company.
Inductee No 142, she became the first Welsh women’s player to be added and the 20th Welsh rugby player to enter the pantheon.
A current and active coach who has recently led the Barbarians, she will take charge of the first Women’s Crawshay’s side – against Wales Women at Ebbw Vale next Saturday (23 November, 2.30pm).
The sides will compete for the newly commissioned Rose Crawshay Challenge Trophy in honour of a female ancestor of Captain Geoffrey Crawshay, the founder of Crawshay’s Rugby Club. Rose was one of the UK’s leading suffragists and is listed as one of Wales’ greatest 100 women of all time.
