Exclusive: Inside the plan to keep the Welsh Rugby Union in check
One of Wales’s leading business figures is rallying support for a committee that would hold the Welsh Rugby Union to account amid its biggest crisis of the professional era.
The Welsh Rugby Union and embattled chairman Richard Collier Keywood are facing an Extraordinary General Meeting amid a legal row over plans to reduce the number of pro clubs and the national team’s flatlining results.
And Rob Regan, former chief operating officer of both Principality Building Society – which sponsors the national stadium – and Legal and General, is mobilising support for an oversight committee, which he said would be a “coalition of the willing” made up of businesses, clubs, sponsors and key industry figures, to hold chief executive Abi Tierney and chair Collier Keywood to account.
“You’ve got the group that are pushing for the EGM,” Regan, who also had a spell at Royal London, told City PM. “And then there’s a whole lot of other people.
“What I’ve been trying to do is rather than be the bloke that sits on the sidelines, I’m trying to galvanise different groups and create a single force.
“So over the last 10 days we’ve got some real momentum, some pretty key senior figures in the game. I’ve also been meeting sponsors and benefactors throughout the game, both the regional game and grassroots.
“We’ve already got a draft strategy, I’ve got a review of the governance models of different regions and we intend to be a real force for good by business.”
Welsh Rugby Union saviour?
Regan’s personal view is that any successful group would need to launch alongside a new chief executive and chair, though he categorically rules out going for those jobs himself despite once reaching the latter stages of a Welsh Rugby Union chief hiring process.
He takes issue with some of the figures running the Welsh game not being full-time residents in the country despite heritage claims among those in charge, and he wants a Strategic Advisory Committee akin to that enjoyed by the FA of Wales, which provides independent input on “strategic matters”.
“Where could we get legitimacy without having conflict?” Regan added. “That’s my challenge at the moment.
“Everybody’s got a view. Some of the chiefs in regional rugby have been really helpful and reached out to me.
“They’re keen to have some change at the union, but we need to make sure that we’re credible, capable, independent and seen as this force for good, not some noisy echo chamber.”