A letter sent to WRU chairman Ieuan Evans demanding the immediate removal of chief executive Steve Phillips and the entire board has been endorsed by all four Welsh regions.
Cardiff Rugby non-executive director Hayley Parsons OBE has written the damning letter, which has been circulated to all four regions and endorsed by them. Parsons has called for "immediate and decisive action" and "to make a positive change for the future".
It comes after a BBC programme had interviewed a number of former WRU employees who made some harrowing allegations. You can read full details of that here. Allegations of a "toxic culture" within the organisation were raised after it was accused of bullying and sexism in what has been a chaotic and highly damaging week for the WRU.
READ MORE: 'Devastated' Ieuan Evans orders external taskforce to clean up WRU and stands by CEO Steve Phillips
Now, in an open letter addressed personally to chairman Ieuan Evans, Parsons, the founder of GoCompare, has called on the board to step down en masse. Phillips is under severe pressure following claims the union has a "toxic culture" of sexism and misogyny.
One former employee even alleges a male colleague said he wanted to "rape her".
Evans has backed Phillips and ordered an external taskforce to be set up to clean up the organisation. But all four regions, who have long been at loggerheads with Phillips over funding levels, now want him to step down. In a letter to Evans, Parsons claims the WRU board are not fit for purpose.
"In my role at Cardiff Rugby, I constantly witness and have to deal with the fallout of incompetence at the Welsh Rugby Union," wrote Parsons.
"I believe the board, in its current state, does not possess the expertise and experience to run the WRU, which is essentially a £100million company.
"As a group of individuals, they are not fit for purpose, and the future of Welsh rugby requires people with the capability and experience to turn this urgent and dire situation around."
Parsons went on to state there were talented individuals who would be willing to lend their help to Welsh rugby. She added: "I am pleading with you to make the right decision for the WRU, as a business and for rugby as our national sport.
"You are surrounded by amazing business professionals who already invest their time and energy into Welsh rugby. We need a clear overarching business strategy the whole of Welsh rugby and its regions can work towards. This week's crisis isn't new, it's just brought the underlying issues that we have experienced for years to the fore."
Evans faced the media earlier on this week to apologise, revealing he was "devastated" by the accusations levelled at the organisation. You can read his comments here.
The open letter in full
Dear Ieuan,
I write to you today to urge you to take immediate and decisive action to address the issues raised in this week’s BBC Wales Investigates programme, but also against a backdrop of a long-standing and deep-rooted culture of toxicity and bullying within the Welsh Rugby Union.
In my role as a non-executive director at Cardiff Rugby, I constantly witness and have to deal with the fallout of incompetence at the Welsh Rugby Union. I believe the board, in its current state, does not possess the expertise and experience to run the WRU, which is essentially a £100million company. As a group of individuals, they are not fit for purpose, and the future of Welsh rugby requires people with the capability and experience to turn this urgent and dire situation around.
I was saddened but not shocked to read the comments from Amanda Blanc, one of the UK’s leading businesswomen who invested her time and effort in the future of Welsh rugby, only to be disrespected and devalued, subsequently leaving her role.
How many more experienced, professional and good people need to leave Welsh rugby before you take action and say enough is enough?
As a business professional and entrepreneur, who founded a multimillion-pound business that remains in Wales, I am pleading with you to make the right decision for the WRU, both as a business and for rugby as our national sport.
Ieuan, you are surrounded by amazing business professionals who already invest their time and energy into Welsh rugby. They have the desire and capability to help you through this crisis. They sit as non-executive directors within the WRU, they are your sponsors and are in your regions, and they want what is right and fair for the people of Wales, our fans and our game.
Pick up the phone to Amanda Blanc, Andrew Williams or Henry Engelhardt and ask for help, and I guarantee you they will go out of their way to help because our staff, our players and our game are worth it. We all want to make Welsh rugby great again.
Welsh rugby needs a clear overarching business strategy that the whole of Welsh rugby and its regions can work towards. This week’s crisis isn’t new, it’s just brought the underlying issues that we have experienced for years to the fore.
As regions, we have been in crisis for so long that our only strategy at present is survival - to stay afloat in the hope that the governance of the WRU is changed soon so we can make it to the next season. This cannot carry on – we all deserve better, as do our players, staff and fans.
As regional clubs we hold back on a range of issues, too scared to go against the Union for fear of retribution, because of the utter choke hold it has on us. It is akin to being in an abusive relationship, and as such, is unacceptable and untenable.
Yet still, despite allegation after allegation, mistake after mistake, sacking after sacking, statement after statement, denial after denial, the WRU does not appear to have modern governance structures or a proper strategic business plan in place to affect positive change and nurture rugby at a regional, never mind national level.
The WRU’s dedicated and hardworking staff, most of whom are a credit to the game and work tirelessly to champion it, are being failed by the WRU’s continued unwillingness to accept responsibility for the failures at board level to tackle the toxic and oppressive culture within the Union.
The treatment of its staff, its regional clubs and its dominance and total control over the game has to change, now. The only way to truly remedy these issues is to appoint a new board made up of people who know how to run a Union and a business properly, with a thought out, well executed business strategy, and stringent and clear governance system.
You have rightly called for governance reform as our new Chair. The Board Governance report conducted in 2022 outlined major concerns and issues with the governance structure. Those changes must now be urgently implemented and explained to the membership at an Extraordinary General Meeting. We must restore confidence in the leadership of our game, and I’m sure we will all as regions, commit to supporting you in delivering those changes.
Please don’t underestimate our combined determination, frustration, disappointment, shame and despair at what is, and has been happening at the WRU. We will not stop campaigning until change is actioned, until the current CEO and the WRU board is either sacked or resign to safeguard the future of Welsh rugby – in what is a pivotal World Cup year for our game.
I have watched in admiration how the Football Association of Wales has turned around its fortunes with its clear business and development strategy for the future of football, which is in stark contrast to that of the WRU. It puts the WRU to shame, demonstrating how archaic rugby governance and management is in Wales and further demonstrating how change must happen, and happen now.
Ieuan, we have the will, we have the people, we have the resolve, we have the expertise, and we have the passion - and please believe me, we will not stop campaigning on this matter until something is done. The WRU needs to clean up its act, it needs to listen to its staff, its players, its fans and work with its regions to make a positive change for the future.
We are here to help, and I can assure you I have no other agenda than to do what’s right for our people and Wales. You have the perfect opportunity to grab hold of Welsh rugby and make it great again and you have an army of people who understand great culture and what great looks like - you have the “best boss in the world” Henry Engelhardt within touching distance of you and many others.
Yours sincerely
Hayley
Hayley Parsons OBE
Responding to Parsons on Thursday evening, Evans thanked her for her "constructive and heartfelt comments" and said he would write back to her "in detail" as well as meeting in person to discuss the matter.
“As I made clear in statements yesterday, I will now lead on the composition of a new externally sourced Taskforce which will review our culture, systems and structures," he said.
“We need to respond to the public scrutiny we are currently experiencing, but this is also the right thing to do. We are listening.
“We are not deaf to the observations and criticisms we are receiving and we must re-examine, re-evaluate, act decisively where we find wrong-doing, and move forwards. We will do this together, we take responsibility together. We will also seek outside influence and counsel as well as looking within to the likes of our independent Board directors as Hayley suggests.
“I am already on public record, in a letter I wrote to member clubs for the New Year, with my ambitions to evolve the governance structure of the WRU with the Clubs and we will address this challenge with renewed vigour immediately. We will use the pressure we are under now, the pressure we have drawn on ourselves, to get better, to improve. I will not waver from this task.”
READ MORE:
'Devastated' Ieuan Evans orders external taskforce to clean up WRU and stands by CEO Steve Phillips
Who is on the WRU board? The people running Welsh rugby amid crisis
Carwyn Jones calls for Senedd inquiry into allegations of sexism at WRU
Ospreys call out 'catastrophic' Welsh rugby situation as Wales international close to leaving
