Former Rugby Canada chair seeks seat on World Rugby’s executive board

By Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press on November 12, 2024.

Former Rugby Canada chair Sally Dennis is seeking a seat on World Rugby’s executive board.

There are 13 candidates running for the six available positions with Dennis running against Samoa’s Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and Uruguay’s Sebastian Pineyrua for the non-high-performance union position.

The election is set for Thursday at World Rugby meetings in Dublin, which Dennis will be attending.

Dennis says the executive board essentially acts as the world governing body’s board of directors. Canada has not had representation on the board in recent history.

Bob Latham, a two-time chairman of USA Rugby, has been on the executive board since 2011, but his term is now up. Dennis is hoping to take over North American representation on the board.

“I do think it’s important that there be at least one person on the board who understands the sport culture in North America, the challenges that present and the context in which potential revenue growth is possible,” Dennis said in an interview.

“If I were elected I would be the only one among the candidates that has that perspective and knowledge,” she added.

Dennis currently represents Canada on the larger World Rugby Council, which features officials from 18 countries. Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales each have three representatives on the council while Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Romania, Samoa, Uruguay and the U.S. have one apiece.

With another two representatives each from Asia Rugby, Oceania Rugby, Rugby Africa, Rugby Americas North, Rugby Europe and Sudamerica Rugby, there arecurrently 52 members on the council.

On Thursday, the council members will first elect the new chair, followed by the six executive board members from whom the vice-chair will be chosen.

There are three candidates – France’s Abdelatif Benazzi, Italy’s Andrea Rinaldo and Australia’s Brett Robinson – to succeed Sir Bill Beaumont as World Rugby chair. Beaumont, a former England captain, is stepping down after two terms at the helm

“Whoever the new chair will be, I think, is going to need a board that is very functionable and effective with a lot of diverse skills, expertise and knowledge,” said Dennis. “And I would like to think that there’s a subset of those skills, expertise, knowledge and personality that I fulfil.”

For the first time, there will also be player representatives on the board – one male and one female – plus three independent members. The World Rugby chair and CEO are also on the board.

Kathleen McGinn, the current Rugby Canada chair, says Dennis’s reputation is one of competence and integrity.

“She really does have a lot of respect at that (World Rugby) council and a lot of respect as a director here in Canada we well,” said McGinn.

A lawyer by training, Vancouver’s Dennis is well-versed in governance and led the way to improve Rugby Canada’s organization.

She believes World Rugby needs to re-earn the “trust and respect” of its stakeholders.

“This is a process, a very collaborative process, that we went through at Rugby Canada. And again I think World Rugby would benefit from my experience with that.”

Appointed to Rugby Canada’s board as a general director in 2017, Dennis became the first female chair of the Rugby Canada board in 2021.

Dennis has been Canada’s representative on the World Rugby Council since March 2023 when she succeeded Pat Parfrey, who had represented Canada on the council since 2015.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024