Deborah Griffin appointed as RFU’s first female President

For the first time in its history, the Rugby Football Union has a female President, with Deborah Griffin beginning her term on 1 August as England prepares to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 later this month.

Deborah has long been a trailblazer in rugby and became the RFU’s first female Council member in 2010, followed by her election as the first woman on the RFU Board in 2014.

A driving force behind the growth of the women’s game, Deborah was also one of the founders of the first Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1991.

She said: “It’s always been my passion to get more people playing this great game. I’m always thinking about how we do that – that’s not just for women, it’s across the board.

“Everybody involved in the game loves it and loves it for very good reason. It’s an amazing game which, somehow, builds great friendships, lifelong friendships.

“It still takes a lot of courage for people, particularly from a non-rugby background, to cross the threshold of that rugby club. So we have to be better at going out there and bringing people in.

“We’re doing that already – and that’s something we haven’t told people enough about. Our partnership with the WI, with the Girl Guides, the work we’re doing in schools, is all really, really important to bringing people across the threshold where they will be welcomed and included.”