Liza Burgess believes she can continue the transformation of Welsh rugby after becoming the first elected member of the Welsh Rugby Union board.
The former Wales women’s captain will be elected unopposed to the post and will replace WRU director Anthony Buchanan.
In 2015 the WRU co-opted businesswoman Aileen Richards to its board and Burgess will become the first woman member elected to it.
“”It’s a really exciting opportunity and I’m really looking forward to taking the role on,” said Burgess.
“It just goes to show what great opportunities exist, not only for myself but for women in sport to show that it can happen.
“We’ve got these role models now that young girls can look up to and think there is an opportunity for me within Welsh rugby.”
WRU chairman Gareth Davies said: “This is a truly historic moment for the good governance of our game.
“It’s a moment we have worked towards and one which we must continue to work towards recreating, again and again, as we strive to increase and diversify the pool of talent which represents our great clubs at board level,” added the former Cardiff, Wales and Lions fly-half after the WRU’s annual general meeting.
First elected @WelshRugbyUnion female board member Liza Burgess says she supports equal pay for men and women national rugby teams. Interview @SkySportsNews pic.twitter.com/D1JmFhNjqj
— Graham Thomas (@Graham_Thomas) November 17, 2019
Liza Burgess is an ex-player who keeps on making Welsh rugby history. She captained Wales women in their first international in 1980, went on to win a then record 87 caps over a 20 year period and in 2018 became the first Welsh woman to be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Not content with having an extraordinary playing career, she has gone on to coach both Wales Women U20 and Barbarians and developed into one of our top female coaches and she will now be welcomed into another new fold, as the first elected female to the Welsh Rugby Union Board in 138 years.
Rugby politics is nothing new to the former Great Britain, Barbarians and Wales legend known to her peers as ‘Bird’. As one of the pioneers of the women’s game in the United Kingdom she helped to set-up the women’s club at Saracens and then went on to lead them to the treble.
Her incredible achievements in the women’s game led to her joining four other legendary rugby figures in being inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in Rugby last year. Stephen Larkham (Australia), Ronan O’Gara (Ireland), Pierre Villepreux (France) and Bryan Williams (New Zealand) couldn’t have been in better company.
Inductee No 142, she became the first Welsh women’s player to be added and the 20th Welsh rugby player to enter the pantheon.
A current and active coach who has recently led the Barbarians, she will take charge of the first Women’s Crawshay’s side – against Wales Women at Ebbw Vale next Saturday (23 November, 2.30pm).
