The Welsh Rugby Union has received six grievances in the last five years relating to either sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour while three members of staff have been subject to disciplinary action following allegations of such behaviour, a damning new Senedd report has revealed.
The WRU employs some 224 staff directly, while there are 430 in the wider WRU Group which includes Principality Stadium staff.
Allegations of sexism and misogyny have dogged the WRU this year since the BBC aired an investigations programme detailing allegations from former employees in January. That prompted the resignation of then-chief executive Steve Phillips, the union establishing an external taskforce to review its behaviours, with that work ongoing, and governance changes being pushed through to establish a more diverse board.
READ MORE: Details of WRU's sealed review into Welsh women's rugby released for first time
However, concerns that female rugby players in Wales may have faced "unfavourable treatment" had been highlighted to the WRU two years earlier in a review of the women's game, extracts of which were published on Friday as part of the Senedd report.
The WRU expects its independent review panel (taskforce) on overall behaviours and culture to report "before the end of summer" and welcomes the Senedd's suggestion that an implementation plan should follow soon after.
Nigel Walker, who stepped in as interim chief executive earlier this year, confirmed most of the recommendations made by the 2021 review into the women's game had already been implemented. The WRU said it was "fully committed" to enacting all of the recommendations of the ongoing review.
"It is unacceptable that it took a BBC documentary for the Welsh Rugby Union to act decisively to tackle long-standing toxic behaviour within the organisation," read the 33-page Senedd sport committee report. "There is a clear body of evidence that points to opportunities that were missed by the WRU to act on concerning behaviour, or to acknowledge and tackle a pattern of this behaviour.
"This includes formal complaints; the WRU entering into several settlement agreements in relation to allegations of sexism, racism and homophobia over several years; the review into the women's game; and the resignation of Amanda Blanc (chair of Wales' Professional Rugby Board).
"Taken together, these point to systemic failures in the culture of the WRU. The fact that senior management did not identify and tackle the problem is a serious failure of governance."
The Senedd's culture, communications, Welsh language, sport and international relations committee's report published on Friday, entitled "allegations concerning the Welsh Rugby Union", published extracts of a 2021 independent review commissioned by the WRU into the Wales Women performance programme, which found "systemic failures in the culture of the WRU". That review concluded the WRU was "facing a significant number of risks not only in respect of the women's performance programme, but as a national governing body (NGB) for rugby in Wales".
That report into Wales Women produced 40 recommendations, the majority of which then-WRU performance director Nigel Walker began to address within months of being in post. He oversaw the professionalisation of the Wales Women programme in 2022, with the team now at a record high of sixth in the world with 25 full-time pros in their ranks.
After the Senedd report's publication, the WRU said "we have much work to do to ensure that we address our past failures and we again express our sincere remorse for the missed opportunities and failures described and offer our sincere apologies to anyone affected".
Responding to a question from the committee about non-disclosure agreements, the WRU said in the report: "Whilst the committee asked us about non-disclosure agreements specifically, we will often use these as part of commercial agreements. Settlement or compromise agreements are used from time to time when ending employment for a variety of reasons. In providing the relevant information and as requested by the committee we have considered settlement agreements in relation to allegations of sexism, racism and homophobia.
"The WRU Group has entered into a settlement agreement on four occasions in the last five years in relation to a grievance that had been raised in relation to these issues. Two or three of the four settlement agreements relate to the issues that might come under the remit of the taskforce review. I am sure you will understand that for a number of reasons, I cannot provide any further detail of the specific cases but we would of course be happy for those who have entered into settlement agreements to participate in the taskforce review if they so wished.
"The WRU Group has been in receipt of six grievances in the last five years that relate to either sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour. With regard to procedures that have been concluded, three members of staff have been subject to disciplinary action following allegations of sexist, racist or homophobic behaviour.”
Interim CEO Walker published details from a letter he sent to the Senedd after appearing before it in February alongside WRU chair Ieuan Evans. In the document, he warned changing culture "takes time" but insisted the WRU is "determined" to do so.
"Whilst this period has been extremely challenging for us, I hope you can appreciate that our intention is to accept and learn from the challenges we face, and to change the way that we work day to day," Walker wrote. "The (2021) review made very challenging reading for us and described a committed squad of high-performance athletes frustrated by the support they were receiving, with failures in strategic and operational management. The review report also made clear that we had not ensured that our female players felt fully welcomed, valued and an equal part of our game. Changing culture takes time, but we are determined to do it."
A WRU spokesperson said on Friday: "We have already accepted, and did so again at the committee session, that we have much work to do to ensure that we address our past failures and we again express our sincere remorse for the missed opportunities and failures described and offer our sincere apologies to anyone affected.
“We commissioned the independent report into the women’s performance area in 2021 to identify concerns and help us reshape our support for our international players. This led to a great deal of change and we are pleased to be able to report that the recommendations have been substantively delivered. We are very proud of the way in which our squad has responded to these changes and we hope that the results are clear to see.
“We are fully committed to implementing all of the recommendations of the current independent review into the WRU, led by former Court of Appeal judge Dame Anne Rafferty DBE PC. We expect the taskforce to report before the end of summer and welcome the Senedd’s suggestion that an implementation plan should follow soon after.
“The committee are right to highlight that we should not wait until the taskforce completes its work before we make changes, specifically to ensure that our staff feel safe, supported and valued, and that we tackle incidents and behaviours in a robust and consistent matter. We have invested in new procedures and enhanced and restructured our human resources team, with a particular focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.
“The HR team has sought external expertise to provide advice and support in reviewing all of our people policies in 2022, which includes our EDI, whistleblowing and grievance policies, to ensure these are as robust as possible. This period of challenge has made us doubly committed to developing an everyday working culture that is professional, inclusive and welcoming.”
The committee also said the Welsh Government should ensure that any future funding for the WRU complies with all aspects of the "violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence" strategy and the "economic contract". The Committee is also calling for the Welsh Government to review how ministers and civil servants respond to concerns raised with them regarding inappropriate behaviour in organisations in Wales.
Delyth Jewell MS, chair of the committee, said: “The issues that arose in the BBC programme were seriously concerning and following our evidence gathering we have today provided recommendations for the WRU and Welsh Government to ensure this never happens again. Sport must always be a welcoming place for all and the committee is determined to ensure that all those who participate and work within sport in Wales can do so without fear of prejudice or discrimination.
"We are pleased so far to see some progress and the initial actions taken by the WRU. As a committee we will continue to engage with the WRU and the Welsh Government on their progress in tackling these issues.”
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