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The WRU will begin its search for Richard Collier-Keywood’s successor this week but the roadmap for cutting a team will already be set out before they start
12:10, 03 May 2026
Andrew Williams is already on the WRU board
The Welsh Rugby Union will begin the process of appointing a new chair within days, as Richard Collier-Keywood prepares to step down in July at a pivotal moment for the game in Wales.
His departure will bring to a close a significant tenure. Appointed in July 2023, Collier-Keywood became the WRU’s first independent chair, a position created as part of sweeping governance reforms introduced in the wake of the Rafferty Report.
Those changes, initially set in motion under former chair Gareth Davies, reshaped how authority is exercised within the union.
Where once community clubs held the power to elect the chair, the system has shifted markedly. Today, only four council positions are elected by member clubs, with the remaining appointments made at board level.
Crucially, the chair is now selected by the WRU board and must be drawn from its independent non-executive directors.
That 12-member board will oversee the process to identify Collier-Keywood’s successor. While the community game no longer has a direct vote in the appointment, it retains a constitutional safeguard: clubs can call an Extraordinary General Meeting and, if necessary, remove a chair through a vote of no confidence.
At a recent EGM, the WRU confirmed it would engage an external search firm to assist in the recruitment process.
That decision may draw criticism given the union’s recent spending on consultancy, but it is standard practice among comparable organisations seeking to ensure independence and breadth in senior appointments.
The successful candidate will take on the role at one of the most delicate junctures in recent Welsh rugby history. Although the four professional sides are secured for the next two years, the WRU has remained firm in its intention to reduce that number to three.
A roadmap outlining how such a move would be implemented is expected in June, while Collier-Keywood is still in post.
That timing raises the prospect that the incoming chair will inherit a strategy already set in motion. The WRU board voted unanimously in favour of the plan, and it remains to be seen whether a change in leadership would materially alter its direction.
It is highly likely the new chair would be appointed to help push through the radical restructuring of the professional game.
Speculation has already begun around potential successors. Within the current board, independent non-executive directors Amanda Bennett and Jennifer Mathias have both been mentioned.
Arguably the standout candidate from within the existing board is Andrew Williams, who was the longest-serving FTSE 100 chief executive in the UK during his tenure at Halma plc.
Williams is widely regarded as a high-calibre operator and remains one of the few figures in Welsh rugby capable of commanding the respect of all major stakeholders.
He would also bring the experience and strategic clarity required to steer the game through what promises to be a challenging and uncertain period.
Should the WRU look beyond its existing board, other names may come into consideration.
Amanda Blanc, CEO of Aviva who was formerly chair of the PRB, should be the leading candidate but whether she would consider the role is a long-shot given the way she was treated during her previous time in Welsh rugby.
Former First Minister Carwyn Jones has also been suggested, as has Davies, whose previous tenure laid much of the groundwork for the current governance model.
High court judge Sir Wyn Williams, who chaired the Post Office Inquiry and has previously been involved in Welsh rugby is another name mentioned in dispatches.
The decision now facing the WRU board is about more than succession. It is about appointing a figure capable of steering the union through a period of structural change, financial pressure and ongoing debate about the future shape of the professional game. The next chair will not define those challenges, but will be tasked with navigating them.
