Welsh Rugby Union

Part of 4. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:37 pm on 25 January 2023.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 3:37, 25 January 2023

Thank you, Alun Davies, for those comments, and, again, I couldn't agree more with the issues that you raise. The need for cultural change is something that we know, in any organisation, is the most difficult thing to bring about. Cultural change takes time. It takes changes of not just policies, it takes changes of personnel, it takes changes of attitude, and it is rarely something that can happen overnight. But I can assure you that I have made it absolutely clear that that cultural change has to happen, because, at the moment, the way that things are perceived within the WRU is not in line with the values of this Government.

Now, as a Government, clearly, we do not run the WRU. We don't own the WRU. They are an independent business, and we must be clear about where the decisions about the game in Wales are taken. And they are not taken by Welsh Government. But the whole point, and I think the point that you were making, Alun, is that rugby union, and international rugby union in particular, is so fundamental to the culture of this nation that we have to have an organisation that espouses the values of this nation as well. And that has to be that everybody, whether they are playing, or whether they work in the organisation, is valued and treated with respect and dignity, and that they are valued. And that will be the measure that I will put on the change within the WRU.

Now, I'm aware, Llywydd, that, as I'm on my feet, and perhaps just before I came into the Chamber, there was a press conference taking place with the WRU and with Ieuan Evans, who I did meet for the first time just a couple of weeks ago. And I have to say, in that conversation that I had with him a couple of weeks ago, I was very impressed with his determination to drive change within the WRU. Now, I have not had the opportunity, unfortunately, to catch up with what he said in this press conference, but I would very much hope that that is what he has set out very clearly in light of what happened, which was aired in this BBC programme on Monday.