Former Kelso and Scotland star John Jeffrey set to join World Rugby's top table
Last updated 20th Apr 2023
Former Kelso and Scotland player John Jeffrey has announced he is stepping down from his position as director and chair of Scottish Rugby Ltd to focus on his new global role as vice-chair of World Rugby.
The former international - who represented his country between 1984 and 1991, and was a key figure in Scotland’s Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990 - has been chair of Scottish Rugby Ltd for three years.
On Wednesday night, he informed the board of the Scottish Rugby Union, the custodian body which represents Scottish rugby clubs - the owners of the game in Scotland - that he would be stepping down immediately and would not seek re-appointment as a non-executive director.
Mr Jeffrey’s new role will be ratified by the World Rugby Council at its annual meeting on May 11th and he will serve until November 2024, the end of the current term.
He said: “It made sense, given the enormous demands of the World Rugby vice-chair role, especially at such an exciting time for the game, with the World Cup later this year in France, to give the SRU clarity on my intentions and to focus 100% on my new role.
“It’s been an enormous privilege to have helped grow the game in Scotland over the past three years and I am looking forward to what will, I am sure, be a hugely demanding and satisfying term as vice-chair.”
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Scottish Rugby has paid tribute to Jeffrey and said it hopes to announce his replacement in the coming weeks.
Prof. Lorne Crerar, chair of the SRU, added: “John has been one of the truly iconic figures in the Scottish game over the past four decades and we wish him every success in his new, global role. It will be hugely prestigious for Scottish Rugby to have one of our own at the sport’s top table.”
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