eBusiness Weekly
There is no denying rugby is a sport predominantly associated with men, and it is a fact there are more men called Brett than there are women on the executive committee of the game’s governing body, World Rugby.
However, in Wales the situation is different.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has made an active change to recruit more women to their boards.
But who are these women? How have they obtained these positions? What challenges have they faced in their rise to the top and what are the changes they want to see going forward?
The Scrum V podcast has been speaking to them and the one woman who is blazing a trail at World Rugby. Paterson joined the WRU in 1989 and was appointed to the Executive Board in 2006. She is responsible for the management of the Professional Rugby Agreement and chairs the Rugby Management Board in Wales, while also sitting on the Pro14 executive board and
representing Wales on the World Rugby council.
“At the time (of her appointment), there were no other female execs across the whole of world rugby so we were the first union to put a female on their exec board . . . it was huge,” said Paterson.
“If you stand your ground, it doesn’t matter whether your opinion is right or wrong. It’s your opinion and you should stay with your opinion. Your credibility goes up over time because people know you’re true to your word and remain solid. I think that’s helped my progression.
“I wouldn’t turn up if we were ticking the box.”
What change do you want to see?
I think we need more women to step up to the plate and put themselves out there. You might not get voted in the first time, you might not get the job the first time trying, but keep on trying.
“You’ve got to be in it to change it, and it is changing, but there is still work to do.
“I don’t think it’s automatic that you’re accepted and I think you do have to earn your stripes, you have to prove that you are good at what you do, and you do have the network and the experience to bring about change.”
Richards joined the WRU Board in 2015, but prior to that she spent 30 years at Mars Incorporated working across the management structure in a number of high-profile roles.
“This is not a planned career. This is just taking opportunities and seeing open doors and trying to step into them as hard as I can,” said Richards.
“I supported rugby since I was seven. I grew up in Wales, I had a passion for Welsh rugby, and I’ve never lost that. And, to be honest, I’d spent a lot of time working in lonely executive boards as the only female — so I mean that part of it didn’t worry me.
“I was surprised by the attention it got [when announced onto the board], but I wasn’t worried about being the only woman and being a trailblazer.”
“We’ve done a lot. Have we got more to do? Absolutely. We’ve got to drive faster on diversity.
“I want to see a female on the council and then on the board that has been elected by the clubs as a district member, because that’s the lifeblood of the WRU. That’s the one thing that I wish would change and change faster.”
Burgess captained Wales Women in their first international in 1980 and went on to win a then record 87 caps over a 20-year period. In 2018 she became the first Welsh woman to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame and is the first woman to have been elected to the WRU board.
She said: “The most important thing is have you got the right skill set for the job? You don’t want to be just a face sitting there, you want to be someone that is really passionate, is able to check and challenge and put your views across. It’s really important to stand up for what you believe in.
“For me it was a case of I saw this as a huge opportunity. I certainly didn’t think about anything like trailblazing because I was more focused on what can I do, will I make a difference? I wanted to represent the Welsh people that play rugby and the game that I love and I’m passionate about.”
“I’ve challenged, checked and questioned and really done the best I can for club rugby and women’s rugby within Wales.
“I think for me that’s the kind of legacy I’d like to leave, to make sure that I did everything that was possible within my jurisdiction as a director, to keep questioning and asking those questions so the women’s game can develop.
“I feel passionate about it and I’d love to see the infrastructure in Wales create a really viable competitive structure to keep our Welsh girls in Wales.
“At the moment, the best opportunity for them to play at the top level and to get that performance exposure is over in England.
“That’s the right thing to do in the short term, but long term we need to get that infrastructure right in Wales.”
Blanc is the independent chairperson of the WRU’s Professional Rugby Board (PRB) and automatically joins the WRU board. She is also the chief executive of Aviva PLC.
“Everybody is a role model for something slightly different and, therefore, the combination of that is quite powerful.
“I do think that it is something we should be proud of and we should continue to promote,” said Blanc.
“The investment (in player contracts) needs to happen. We’re meant to be representing the community in Wales.
“Communities are made up of men, of women, of different diversity, different ethnicity and I think that we need to make sure that rugby reflects that, because if it doesn’t people will look to things that do.” — BBC.
