So why did WRU let Ms Blanc walk away?

SIX months have passed since Amanda Blanc handed a letter of resignation to the Welsh Rugby Union outlining the reasons for her abrupt exit as chair of the Professional Rugby Board.

The sudden departure of one of Britain’s foremost business executives prompted the four Welsh regions, who sit on the Board jointly with the WRU, to issue a statement lamenting the loss of “exactly the calibre of person required to drive the game forward in Wales”.

They praised Ms Blanc’s “integrity, professionalism, empathy and commitment”. Cardiff president Peter Thomas underlined their concern, calling on the WRU to explain the reasons behind a resignation which raised questions over the Union’s leadership.

Since then, not a peep from chief executive Steve Phillips or chairman Rob Butcher. His predecessor, Gareth Davies, had acclaimed Ms Blanc’s appointment two years earlier as bringing Welsh rugby “an unrivalled skillset and high level of business experience”.

While Blanc went about her business as chief executive officer of the insurance giant, Aviva, the deafening silence over her departure continued, until one day last week. WRU performance director Nigel Walker interrupted it in referring to the PRB under Blanc’s successor Malcolm Wall, formerly of Harlequins.

“Amanda Blanc did a fantastic job before Malcolm,’’ Walker said, expressing his ‘confidence’ in the Board to find an answer to the recurring crisis over the future of the four regional teams.

Walker’s observation begs a question: why did the WRU allow someone who “did a fantastic job” to walk away….?