First woman elected to NZRU board
In a very signficant move, Dr Farah Palmer - three-times World Cup winning captain and World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee - has been elected to the Board of New Zealand Rugby.
Published by John Birch, December 14th, 2016
2 minute read
The election of members of rugby boards is not nornally something to get the pulse racing, but the appearence of women on boards has been shown time and again to be very significant to the development of women's rugby.
On field success helps, but guarantees little. New Zealand were World Champions in 2010 but that did not stop the NZRU cancelling that year's inter-provincial championship to save money. Similarly winning the 2009 Sevens World Cup was a great step forward for Australian women's rugby, but it was the appearence of Pip Marlow and Ann Sherry on their board that was the precursor to massive cultural change in Australian rugby we have recently witnessed.
What is more Dr Farah Palmer, former Black Fern captain and current member of the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board (NZMRB), has been elected to her position - the unanimous choice of NZ Rugby’s voting members (26 Provincial Rugby Unions plus the NZMRB) after being nominated by Manawatu Rugby Football Union and seconded by Hawke's Bay.
NZR Chairman, Brent Impey congratulated Dr Palmer on her election as the Maori Representative on the Board, saying her experience on and off the field would be an asset to rugby's future success.