Three more years for SRU chief Dodson

SRU chief executive Mark Dodson has been handed an 18-month contract extension which will keep him at the helm until the summer of 2025. The Scottish Rugby board agreed unanimously to offer him a new deal which sees him remain on roughly the same as his current £455,000 basic salary. It is not known if any bonus payments are included for meeting financial targets, which saw him earn an extra £478,000 to take his 2019 salary to £933,000. Voting to extend his contract were SRU chairman John Jeffrey, president Ian Barr, vicepresident Colin Rigby, chief financial officer Hilary Spence, chief people and engagement officer Shona Bell, nonexecutive directors Lesley Thomson QC, David McMillan, Julia Bracewell, Bob Richmond and Hazel Swankie. Sportsmail understands Dodson (right) is set to stand down when his contract extension runs out just before his 65th birthday in three years’ time. That will give the SRU ample time to launch a search for his successor who would be in place well before the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Appointed after the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, the Mancunian was credited with driving down record SRU debt of around £25million to making them virtually debt free before the pandemic struck. He was widely praised for not making any compulsory redundancies at the SRU during Covid and for securing a £15m grant and £5m loan from the Scottish Government to help balance the books and distribute money to struggling amateur clubs. He has also made moves to change the governance structure of the SRU to give amateur sides more of a say. He has sparked controversy, too, most notably when the SRU were fined £70,000 for his comments ahead of a final pool game between Scotland and Japan at the World Cup in 2019. The match was in danger of being called off after a typhoon hit Yokohama, claiming more than 90 lives. Dodson threatened to sue World Rugby if the game was postponed as, under tournament rules, it wouldn’t have been rescheduled and Scotland would have been automatically eliminated. The fixture went ahead as planned with Scotland losing 28-21 which put them out of the tournament. In the only other World Cup on his watch, Scotland lost to Australia in the quarter-final of the 2015 tournament at Twickenham. After accepting his new deal, Dodson said: ‘To know there was unanimous support on the Board to extend my role for a further 18 months was a key factor in the decision to accept their offer to continue in post. ‘I know how hard all our people work to deliver rugby across Scotland and on the international stage and I remain fully committed to leading them through what is likely to be a challenging and unpredictable period. ‘The new governance structure will offer a fresh start for the way rugby is managed in Scotland and I am delighted to continue leading Scottish Rugby until 2025.’ SRU board chairman and 1990 Grand Slam legend Jeffrey said: ‘Mark’s track record leading Scottish Rugby speaks for itself and, as we enter what is likely to be a period of significant change and some uncertainty, the Board unanimously agreed to ask him to continue for an additional 18 months.’ Gregor Townsend, who was appointed head coach of Glasgow Warriors by Dodson before he promoted him to head coach of the national team, said: ‘We’ve got a good relationship. We won’t always agree on things, but we respect each other’s views. He wants success for all our teams, whether at national level, the pro teams or age group, and he’ll be driving that, I’m sure, over the next few years.’