The chairman of the board of directors Gareth Davies presented the Group’s Annual Report to representatives from each of the 320 member clubs and districts and WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips issued a copy of the Group’s ‘Strategy for Welsh Rugby’ to each delegate.
The AGM was also followed by a ‘rugby expo’ at which different departments and partners from the WRU Group exhibited to the members present.
The strategy document has also been sent to each club and all staff members and is hosted on the WRU website entitled ‘Our Strategy for Welsh Rugby’ where it is available to download.
The strategy is the work of Phillips, the Board and WRU executive team and is the culmination of a year’s in depth research into the issues, threats and opportunities for the national sport of Wales and an ambitious attempt to create a plan for consolidating its strengths and safeguarding its future.
The vision of the WRU Group has been boiled down to one, concise, ten-word sentence:
“MORE PEOPLE, MORE OFTEN, WITH MORE ENJOYMENT AND MORE SUCCESS.”
This vision is further defined as Phillips goes on to spell out what new measure will be necessary to achieve it, what steps must be taken to change and what Welsh rugby must hold onto and re-emphasise in order to further excel.
But the CEO, who comes to the end of his first year in office this Autumn, is keen to point out that it is not the words on the page which will bring a vibrant future to the game in Wales, but the reaction of the 320 clubs and districts in Welsh rugby to those words.
“We have completed the process of laying out our strategy for the future of the game and we have produced a document we are proud of and that, hopefully, the whole of Welsh rugby can buy into,” said Phillips.
“But the strategy is the easy bit, our challenge now is to implement and we cannot do that without the help of the good people volunteering, playing, coaching, refereeing and administrating at rugby clubs the length and breadth of the country.
The document identifies six key strategic outcomes under the titles: ‘Unity and Alignment’, ‘Player Experience’, ‘Supporter Experience’, ‘Revenues up, Costs down’, ‘Our People’ and ‘Beyond Rugby’ and seeks to employ a ‘virtuous circle’ which contains six ambitions or aims which all feed each other:
– Secure the best players & coaches in a high performance environment
– Achieving success in the best competitions
– Secure higher value sponsorship and investment
– Re-invest in the game
– Attract, grow and retain potential talent as players, coaches and on committees
There are targets and ambitions for the national squad too, a commitment to utilise the iconic facilities of Principality Stadium even further and a new direction for women and girls’ rugby as well as exploring alternative forms of the game in greater depth.
“Each step of the strategy feeds the next and we now have a clear idea of what success for Welsh rugby is going to look like,” added Phillips.
“We have a coherent vision for the future, but there is plenty of hard work ahead before that vision can be realised.”
Chairman Gareth Davies addressed the AGM on completion of the second year of his first three year term in office, presenting the already published WRU Group annual report to delegates.
“I think you will agree that the report makes happy reading,” he said.
“Another impressive set of financial results sees a record investment in the game of some £33.1 million – that’s an 11- per-cent increase on the previous year and turnover has once again increased to the record level of £73.3 million – up from £64.8m the year before.
“But the numbers don’t tell the whole story on their own of course.
“I’d like to also point out that this record investment comes after a strategic decision taken by the Group to re-invest more money into the game, rather than retaining any profits to enhance net assets.
“The Group’s total investment in Community Clubs was £7.9 million, a 16-per-cent increase, investment in the Principality Premiership was £1.6 million, a 14-per-cent increase, and investment in the Regions increased by 12-per-cent, up to £19.3 million.
And Davies also acknowledged that it is the member clubs of the WRU Group who hold the future of Welsh rugby in their hands and he pointed out how he wants the new WRU strategy to help.
“Ultimately it is the clubs, who run the community game, and all the players, coaches, referees and other volunteers at that level who are the lifeblood of our national sport,” said Davies.
“We are constantly looking to increase our support for clubs and we will continue to look to facilities grants as the vehicle for us to do this.
“We want to help clubs to invest in their facilities allowing them to become more attractive to their local communities as central, social hubs.
“We want to ensure that our clubs are at the heart of their communities and that they particularly attract families, women and children as well as rewarding their more traditional audiences.
“Following a comprehensive review of the women’s game, we’ve also made some changes to make rugby more appealing for girls.
“Our focus on alternative forms of the game like Tag, Touch and Festival rugby along with the growth of women’s and girls’ rugby is designed to allow clubs to thrive and attract new visitors.
“We have identified that the provision of things like food, WiFi and well-kept facilities are the key factors for many clubs and we plan to invest even more to help in this regard.
“I hope the clubs will be as impressed as I and my fellow Board members have been with the body of work which (Martyn) has been able to complete during his short time at the helm so far.
“As well as making three new appointments to the Group’s Executive Board this year – Ryan Jones, as our new head of Rugby Participation, Geraint John as head of Rugby Performance and Mark Killingley as the new head of Digital Marketing and Communications – we are proud to be able to say that all the Group’s revenues have been re-invested back into the game and that investment is at record levels in the Regional, Premiership and Community game, as well as on an overall basis.”
Three new Board members were also officially welcomed to their first AGM, Gwyn Bowden, Bryn Parker, Ian Jeffery and Rob Butcher are all in their first years of office.
“I’m sure everyone will join me in commending each new member on the contributions they have made to the national cause so far,” added Davies.
“There are exciting times ahead also for Warren Gatland’s immediate successor, Rob Howley, who has been appointed as the new Head Coach of Wales for the season.
“We wish Rob the very best also and look forward to seeing him continue with the good progress our national squad has made under his and Warren’s tenure so far.”
