The Welsh Rugby Union comfortably won a vote of no confidence called at an emergency general meeting of clubs in Port Talbot on Sunday but one of its most senior and respected members admitted that a tarnished reputation needed to be restored.
Gerald Davies, the former Wales and Lions wing who is on the WRU’s board of directors and sits on the International Rugby Board, shocked the delegates at the meeting when he took the floor during the no-confidence motion which, if passed, would have required him and his fellow directors to resign immediately without the right to stand for office again.
“Ours is not a good image,” he said. “We need to restore our dignity and it is depressing that we have such a reputation. We need to have a strong identity and we need cohesion, collaboration and cooperation. We need to restore Welsh rugby and not through self-interest.
“We cannot carry on with having more of the same. We need the right rugby governance Welsh rugby can be proud of. We cannot come back here in five years’ time for another EGM, as has become the pattern. If we do, we have failed. We cannot leave here without believing we need to change.”
Only four clubs voted for the no-confidence motion with 462 opposing it. An earlier debate had centred around WRU policies and the governing body agreed to ballot clubs before going ahead with a planned restructuring of leagues at lower levels.
“The incredible support shown for the WRU gives us the confidence to go forward with energy and focus to continue evolving the game,” said the union’s chief executive, Roger Lewis. “We have all learnt lessons from this debate and we will ensure the dialogue we have engaged in today continues to help us develop and improve.”
The opposition to the WRU was led by its former chief executive, David Moffett, who had secured the backing of 43 members to force the EGM. He asked a number of questions about finance, spending and accountability from the floor but failed to secure significant backing.
Moffett has called on the WRU to implement the findings of a working party on governance which has recommended changes to the board, including the appointment of an independent nonexecutive director and a woman, but there is not a timetable for discussion.
Lewis’s immediate task will be to secure a new participation agreement with Wales’s four regions with the current deal having two weeks to run. Talks broke down last week but the quartet are now braced for a hard-line stance on issues such as central contracts after the vote.
