Ex-PWR CEO Belinda Moore lands senior role with Welsh Rugby Union

Belinda Moore has been appointed as the Welsh Rugby Union’s head of women’s rugby.

The new lead role was among recommendations from a strategic review into the women’s game in Wales.

It followed a turbulent spell last year that saw the WRU’s handling of now completed contract negotiations for its top female players fiercely criticised.

Head coach Ioan Cunningham left in November, while Nigel Walker resigned from his position as the WRU’s executive director of rugby just before Christmas.

Moore, a former chief executive of Premiership Women’s Rugby, takes charge immediately on an initial nine-month interim basis before she helps appoint her successor and the role is filled permanently.

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Key responsibilities will include WRU systems, structures and pathway into the professional game, 2025 World Cup preparation, plus player contracting and cultural work with the senior women’s squad.

A new senior women’s head coach, meanwhile, is set to be appointed imminently.

“The senior game in Wales has been professional for just three years and is progressing and advancing at an exponential rate,” Moore said, in a WRU statement.

“These swift advancements of course come with their own teething problems, and my eyes are wide open in terms of the challenge ahead, but I am hugely optimistic about what can be achieved.

“The rate of growth of the game is there for all to see, with a Six Nations clash with England at Principality Stadium later this year which is set to break new records for attendance at a home international.”

WRU chief executive Abi Tierney added: “Appointing a head of women’s rugby has been a key priority for us, and we are delighted to have secured the services of someone of the calibre, gravitas and directly relevant senior experience of Belinda Moore.

“This role will be the cornerstone of all the progress we make in the women and girls’ game in Wales over the next five years.”