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Ieuan Evans responds to allegations that have 'tarnished' WRU

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

WRU chair Ieuan Evans has vowed that a taskforce including external expertise will be established to help tackle allegations of racist, homophobic and sexist bullying within the governing body. A number of former Welsh Rugby Union employees took part in an investigation by BBC Wales – which was screened on Monday night – with accusations about their time at the organisation.

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Charlotte Wathan, general manager of women’s rugby until her resignation last February, claimed that offensive comments by a colleague left her in tears and feeling sick, while another unnamed contributor said she was left contemplating suicide by her experiences of bullying and sexism at work. Incidents of racism and homophobia were also alleged.

It sparked calls from fans for WRU chief executive Steve Phillips to be sacked, while major sponsors of the game in Wales expressed grave concerns during the damaging fallout. Asked specifically about Phillips’ future, former Wales captain Evans said: “I have total confidence that we will get this right. That includes Steve. He is the chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union. We will get this right.

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“I can only sincerely and heartfelt apologise to all affected. As a father of two young women, I found it deeply distressing, and I can only apologise to all affected by this. The WRU is an iconic institution in Wales that relies on a huge amount of goodwill. You work hard to get that goodwill, but goodwill needs to be replenished, and people are now craving reassurance.

“We will address the issues, drive the changes and bring that trust and faith back. It is not about individuals, this is a collective. It’s all of us. We need to embrace the challenge together. I want to ensure that our game and our organisation is fit to be a modern, outward-looking organisation. That is our drive here.

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“My ambition here is to bring in some external expertise and establish a taskforce to ensure they review everything and ensure that we establish and develop the right culture to ensure that it is that welcoming institution we truly believe it is capable of being. This can’t be an internal review, this has to be external with that genuine expertise we need from other organisations. Other organisations, sports, entities, might have gone through similar experiences.”

Phillips has written to the WRU’s member clubs, stating: “We will re-examine our structures and procedures to make sure our employees find a business that is caring and sensitive to their needs and welfare. I cannot turn back the clock, but I promise you we will start work on making necessary changes immediately.

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“Much of the recent comment has been difficult to hear but I implore anyone, anywhere throughout the game who is affected by any of the issues raised to contact us immediately.”

Fans group JSG Cymru wrote to Evans calling for Phillips to be dismissed and the Principality Building Society, sponsors of Wales’ national stadium in Cardiff and supporters of the Welsh grassroots game, described the allegations as extremely concerning.

Evans continued: “We need to sit down with the board imminently. Put it this way, I don’t think there is a long timeframe here. We can’t abdicate responsibility. We need to be front and centre with this, and my responsibility is to lead that.

“I hope there is still a residue of that goodwill, but it has been tarnished, there is no doubt about it, and we have to address that and earn that trust. Nothing has more significance than this. If you were to offer me a (Six Nations) Grand Slam or a successful outcome to this and resolving this, then culture comes first.”

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J
JW 49 minutes ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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