Griffin ready to tackle RFU presidency
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has appointed Deborah Griffin as its first female President in the organisation’s 154-year history.
A qualified chartered accountant and former player, Griffin has been a key figure in English rugby for decades.
She was a founding member of the Women’s Rugby Football Union in 1983, helped organise the first women’s Rugby World Cup in 1991, and became the first woman on the RFU Council in 2010.
In her new role, Griffin will focus on driving transformation within the sport, with governance reform a key priority.
The results of a recent governance review are set to be presented to the RFU Council in the autumn, with a focus on devolving more power to different regions to better serve local needs.
Deborah Griffin, President, Rugby Football Union, said, “I do believe that all parts of the game want us to evolve and improve our governance. That’s really, really important – and a lot of that is in response to societal changes. The world doesn’t stand still, and neither can we. We won’t have another major governance review, probably for another 10 years or more. So it’s really, really important – I’d rather get this right.
“I think people want to have more influence over conversations and decisions that are being made regionally. One solution for Cumbria is not the same as the solution for Hampshire. We’ve been working on this for several years in terms of how we can make those decisions, particularly around the growth of rugby at more local levels.”
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