The 21 people in the picture deciding the future of Welsh rugby

This June the Welsh Rugby Union will announce their new strategy for all aspects of the game in Wales.

Welsh rugby has found itself in a dark place over the last year, with a first Six Nations Wooden Spoon for 21 years a product of a struggling professional game. The progress of the women's game has also stalled, while there at big issues to solve within the development pathways and the community game.

Over the past three months a group of the most powerful figures in Welsh rugby have held meetings to map out a sustainable future where all sectors of the game can be successful. One of the most searching topics which has been discussed is the different requirements of the national team and the four professional clubs with a big focus on how to overcome this particular issue.

Senior figures at all four professional clubs have been putting their points of view across, while both Nigel Walker and Warren Gatland were also present this week. Discussions have been wide reaching, with a focus on improving the professional game, strengthening the pathway, the women's game, the community game and how to improve rugby in north Wales.

Here are the people who attended a crucial meeting on Tuesday to shape the future direction of Welsh rugby.

1. Gareth Lewis

Lewis is the CEO of the Welsh Rugby Players' Association (WRPA) which is in place to represent the players. The association acts as a conduit for member concerns and provides a platform whereby issues surrounding their welfare can be raised at the highest levels.

Player welfare has to be at the forefront of Welsh rugby's new strategy.

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2. Lance Bradley

Bradley has been CEO of the Ospreys since January having previously held the same role at Gloucester, while he has also been the managing director at Mitsubishi Motors. The Ospreys boss is a hugely experienced operator who turned around Gloucester's financial performance from significant losses to profitability.

3. David Wright

The former Cardiff and Pontypool scrum-half was part of a consortium which bought the Dragons from the WRU. After becoming a co-owner and director of the Dragons, Wright replaced David Buttress as their representative on the Professional Rugby Board (PRB).

He was recently CEO and shareholder of Paris-based HRA Pharma (owner of brands such as Compeed, ellaOne and Mederma), recognised globally as a brand leader in over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals.

4. Huw Bevan

Bevan is the WRU's performance director after returning to Wales from the US a year ago where he held the role of director of performance. He was Cardiff's fitness coach between 1997 and 1999 and was head of strength and conditioning at Ospreys between 2003 and 2008.

Bevan joined Dragons as high-performance manager in 2014 and went on to become head of rugby operations, while he has held senior positions in cricket. As the WRU's performance director Bevan should have a big say in the new strategy for the game.

5. John Alder

Alder has been the WRU's head of player development since April 2022. He has previously held high-profile performance pathway roles with the English Institute of Sport (EIS), Team Great Britain at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and, most recently, for UK Sport.

The former England U18s international was also a high performance development lead for New Zealand Rugby League. There is currently a big focus on player development in Wales, meaning Alder's role, in conjunction with Huw Bevan, is crucial to the future direction of rugby in this country.

6. Dan Mills

Mills is the interim group finance director of the WRU having joined the governing bodies executive board in May 2023. He qualified as a chartered accountant with with ICAEW in 2014, having trained with PwC in Cardiff.

Mills has previously held the role of management accountant and finance manager with the WRU who made him group financial controller in 2020.

7. Leighton Davies

Davies holds one of the most important positions in Welsh rugby and was the first senior management appointment made by new CEO Abi Tierney. He is currently Global Controller at Purolite, an Ecolab Company, while he is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Money and finances in general will have to be at the heart of this new strategy, meaning Davies will play a crucial role in Welsh rugby over the next few years at least.

8. Terry Cobner

Cobner is the president of the WRU. The 78-year-old was a former backrower who won 22 caps for Wales during the halcyon days of the 1970s.

Cobner also toured with the British & Irish Lions to New Zealand in 1977, while he was the WRU's first ever director of rugby between 1996 and 2004.

9. Natasha Morgan

Morgan holds the role of rugby operations manager at the WRU and has been employed by the governing body since 2014. Her role entails managing the insurance provision for the WRU and the regions, managing the contracting model in Wales, managing the professional player development programme, ensuring Welsh agents are licensed and administering the various boards in Welsh rugby.

10. Warren Gatland

No introductions needed here. Gatland is Wales' most successful coach but if Welsh rugby is to get back on track it needs the men's national side and the professional clubs working in tandem.

11. Abi Tierney

The new CEO of the WRU. Prior to joining the WRU Tierney was one of the most powerful civil servants in the UK.

Tierney served as director-general of HM Passport Office and UK Visas and Immigration. She has also held the role of ethics advisor to the Home Office.

12. Malcom Wall

Wall is the independent chair of the Professional Rugby Board (PRB). A former chair of English champions Harlequins, Wall has held a series of high level executive positions across the media industry over the past 30 years.

He has been chairman at three separate companies - including dock10 Ltd - and has previously been a non-executive director of Image Nation LLC, the Abu Dhabi-based international film fund. Wall worked at Southern, Anglia and Granada Television before becoming deputy CEO of Meridian Broadcasting in the early 90s and then ran Virgin Media’s content business for three years, including Virgin Media Television, and was also chairman of UKTV.

Clearly the professional game has to be at the forefront of the new strategy and there will be a big onus on Wall in this regard.

13. Simon Muderack

Muderack has been executive chair of the Scarlets since September 2020 and is one of the most well-respected figures in Welsh rugby. He built a career in the technology sector after spending nine years with Accenture.

Muderack founded and built Tribold before integrating with Sigma Systems and selling that to Hansen Technologies. He then took on the CEO role for the global Hansen Communications division.

Clearly the input of powerbrokers at all four professional clubs will be essential over the coming weeks and months.

14. Mick Hogan

Hogan is a sports consultant from MMG Sports working with elite-level professional clubs and governing bodies, while he has previously held the role of executive director at English Premiership club Newcastle Falcons. He has been working as a consultant to the PRB in a bid to grow the commercial performances of all four professional clubs in Wales in partnership with the WRU.

Improving commercial performances will be crucial if the professional game is to lift itself out of the doldrums and thrive once again.

15. Gemma Brady

Brady is an outside consultant who is helping to oversee a cost reduction project within Welsh rugby.

16. Marianne Økland

Økland is an independent non-executive director (INED) on the PRB and is hugely respected within Welsh rugby circles. Born in Norway, Økland is a portfolio non-executive director with international leadership experience from boards located in six different countries, predominantly in banking and shipping.

17. Andrew Williams

Williams is one of the most successful and longest-serving FTSE 100 CEOs in the UK and is an INED on the WRU board. He was previously a member of the Cardiff board and was CEO of Halma plc.

Born in Cardiff, chartered engineer Williams was credited with overhauling the leadership and culture of Halma, a global group of life-saving technology companies. Williams is heavily respected by all in Welsh rugby and is one of the key players in forming a new strategy for the game in Wales.

18. Nigel Walker

The former Cardiff and Wales wing is the WRU's executive director of rugby having previously held the role of interim CEO. Walker has a huge role to play in forming the new strategy, especially balancing the need of the national men's squad and the four professional clubs.

Progressing the women's game even further should also be a priority, and Walker will also have a big role to play in this regard.

19. Richard Holland

Holland has been CEO of Cardiff since 2011 and is one of the longest-serving administrators in the Welsh game. The former boss of Chepstow Racecourse helped navigate Cardiff through Covid and recently secured new investment into the Welsh club following the sad passing of former chairman Peter Thomas.

20. Jon Daniels

Daniels was the rugby general manager at the Scarlets and has recently moved to the role of managing director. The man from Llanelli has been at the forefront of Welsh rugby for over two decades and set up the Scarlets academy in 2000.

Daniels has chaired Rugby Management Board (RMB) meetings since 2021.

21. Amanda Bennett

Bennett was recently added to the WRU board as a INED. She is a former Wales international who has played, coached and led women’s rugby over a stellar 40-year career.

Bennett worked for UK Sport for a decade and has since established FairPlay Enterprises Ltd, advising on governance, leadership and EDI for the likes of the Premier League and all four home Unions.