The Welsh-born CEO of the American based company proposing to take a controlling 55% stake in the under threat Scarlets has already made her feelings on the Welsh Rugby Union crystal clear.
In a post on her LinkedIn page in the wake of Wales’ 18th successive defeat in the first Test in Japan last month, Kirsti Jane, tore into WRU CEO Abi Tierney and the governing body for breaking records – “just not the kind anyone wants”.
Last week, her House of Luxury Group was announced as a new key strategic partner to the Scarlets.
The company’s Sports and Entertainment wing, launched last year, boasts former WRU CEO David Moffett and Ospreys legend Dan Biggar amongst its board members.
Biggar took up his post two weeks ago and is described by Jane as having a “unique vision for sports management and industry transformation” who will “sharpen our ability to identify and seize investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscape.”
With the controversial Moffett at the helm of their Sports and Entertainment division they have at least appointed someone who knows the Welsh rugby landscape.
More importantly, he knows all about the difficulties of the current situation regarding the potential reduction of four regions having created the regional structure in 2003 by cutting nine clubs to five regions.
READ MORE: David Moffett, Dan Biggar and the Scarlets . . . Some Fans Just Aren’t Buying It
He still holds strong views about how the game in Wales is run and Jane, originally from Pontypridd, made her feelings abundantly clear after the loss to Japan in the opening game of the two-Test summer series. Wales won the second.
“I was going to say, don’t worry... I’m sure WRU CEO Abi will find some more flowers to cut from the budget but honestly, it’s not a joke. It shouldn’t be, but suits at the top are treating it like it is,” wrote Jane in a LinkedIn post.
“Let’s call it what it is: Welsh rugby is in crisis. Not a new one. Not a one off. Years long cycle of failure, masked by PR spins and empty gestures.
“The WRU gave notice to Ospreys and Scarlets months ago. Yet here we are with no direction. No guts.
“A CEO who can’t seem to make a single executive decision without cutting another cheque to consultants who tell her what she should already know! Years of decline, in the entire pyramid.
“Forever missing the actual issues. Beg benefactors to bail them out, instead of building something worth backing in the first place.
“Rugby clings to the past like a shipwrecked sailor to a piece of floating debris - especially in Wales, where it’s not just outdated, it’s rotting.”
Now she has joined the fight for change, and in the case of the Scarlets’ survival, by taking on much of the day to day liabilities and marketing of the club at a time when the WRU is going through a consultation period to determine by the end of October what the professional game will look like moving forward.
At present, the Scarlets and Ospreys, having refused to sign the new agreement with the union over conditions and funding, have been put on notice they could cease to exist in two years time.
The WRU executive board are due to put their preferred option regarding the number of professional teams the game can afford to the main board of directors this month.
That will be voted on and the decision sent to the four regions for broader consultation.
This is being done at a time when the Scarlets and Ospreys are taking legal action against the WRU over their takeover of Cardiff Rugby, which collapsed with huge debts in April.
Jane claims to have a successful business background and says she is determined to re-tell the story of the Scarlets, inject new energy into their business and make it more appealing to fans and investors alike.
While the current arrangement is a ‘getting to know you’ period, a 55% takeover would probably require authorisation from the WRU, whose ‘due diligence’ of Helford Capital, who replaced Peter Thomas as the major share holders at Cardiff Rugby last year, came under the spotlight when they were forced to pay £700,000 themselves to save the capital city region from going out of existence.
“The WRU? Stand for nothing, except protecting their perks and polishing their own legacies,” added Jane in her July post.
It should be an interesting first meeting between herself and Tierney.
READ MORE: WRU Plans Open Door for Fans to Shape Radical Overhaul of Welsh Rugby
