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The Welsh Rugby Union has appointed Belinda Moore as its new head of women’s rugby.
The union announced it would introduce a women’s playing lead – the first role of its kind at the governing body – after being embroiled in a scandal involving the treatment of its players last year.
It comes after a Telegraph sport The investigation found the union threatened to withdraw its women’s team from the 2025 Rugby World Cup if the players did not sign new contracts. Ioan Cunningham resigned as the team’s head coach following the contract chaos, while executive director of Rugby Nigel Walker left the organization weeks later.
The off-camera saga prompted a review that the WRU published last month. He described the negotiations as “a process, a governance and a failure of leadership”, with the creation of the new women’s lead role one of the key recommendations.
The WRU said the position would provide “new and clear lines of accountability to be established across the entire management team and a high-performance structure” to the governing body.
Moore will set and implement strategy for the women’s national team, as well as directly manage the New Wales women’s head coach.
“The senior game in Wales has only been professional for three short years and is growing and progressing at an exponential rate,” Moore said.
“This rapid progress of course comes with its own teething problems and my eyes are wide open in terms of the challenge ahead, but I am extremely optimistic about what can be achieved.”
Moore resigned as chief executive of Premiership Women’s Rugby last October, just a week into the new season, to “focus on other opportunities”.
Her unexpected departure came 22 months into her tenure, although during her time at the helm of PWR, she closed the league’s broadcast deal with TNT Sports.
Telegraph sport Understands that the WRU has interviewed several candidates for the role of Women’s Head Coach currently in position at PWR clubs. An announcement is expected to be made in the coming days, with the Women’s Six Nations starting at the end of March and the Women’s Rugby World Cup taking place in England in August and September.
