Ground-breaking Griffin takes over as RFU president

Deborah Griffin became the first woman to be president of the Rugby Football Union in its 154-year history on Friday, with a mission to drive transformation within the sport.

Her new role is the culmination of a life dedicated to rugby which has seen her move from player to administrator and now into the most senior backroom role in the English game.

She first picked up the sport at university and the former Richmond player's passion for rugby was instantaneous.

"I just thought this was the most amazing thing I'd ever done, I just loved the game," she said.

"It's given me so much that I only ever want other people to have the same thing."

The dedication to giving others the chance to experience the same rewards is clear from her remarkable rugby CV.

She was a founding member of the then Women's Rugby Football Union in 1983, one of four women who organised the first women's Rugby World Cup in 1991, she became the first woman on the RFU Council in 2010 and the first elected female RFU Board member in 2014.

A qualified chartered accountant, she spent nine years on the RFU Audit Committee and also represented the English governing body as a member of the World Rugby Council.

She was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to women's rugby and one of her first responsibilities as RFU president will be the fast-approaching Women's Rugby World Cup.

"It's not just about the women playing, you know, it's about the whole game," she said.

"The venues will be joyous, and I just think it's a wonderful opportunity to show people our great game."

• Champions and fearless youth - who's in England's World Cup squad?
• Mitchell wants 'no regrets' from England at World Cup

Griffin is travelling to the tournament in a unique way, driving to games in her campervan and staying at campsites.

"My daughter is coming with me. She lives in New York, and only gets three weeks holiday a year, so I have to make sure I've got campsites with good wi-fi, because she'll be working from the camper van for the duration," Griffin said.

Griffin recently met with England's women at their training base as they prepare for the World Cup.

There has been much talk about the Red Roses emulating the success of England's football Lionesses, who have just become back-to-back European champions.

The Red Roses have won 25 games in a row and will go into the tournament on home soil as favourites - but despite reaching the last six World Cup finals they have only once came out as world champions.

"There's my heart, which obviously hopes that they're lifting that trophy at the end of the tournament," said Griffin.

"But you know, I just have to remain pragmatic. I've seen enough World Cup finals to know that it doesn't always go with the form."

Griffin gets stuck into governance reform

While the World Cup will dominate Griffin's early days, come the autumn the RFU's governance reform will return to the headlines.

After a tumultuous period last season, when RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney survived a vote of no confidence, her role will focus on helping English rugby evolve.

"I do believe that all parts of the game want us to evolve and improve our governance," she said.

"That's really, really important - and a lot of that is in response to societal changes. The world doesn't stand still, and neither can we.

"It won't move as fast as people maybe think it should, but then I don't think that's a problem.

"We won't have another major governance review, probably for another 10 years or more. So it's really, really important - I'd rather get this right."

The results of the governance review will go to the RFU Council in the autumn but work on giving more devolved power to different regions could come sooner.

Having visited clubs across England in her previous roles with the RFU, she wants the union to become more agile and responsive to each region's needs.

"I think people want to have more influence over conversations and decisions that are being made regionally," she said.

"One solution for Cumbria is not the same as the solution for Hampshire. We've been working on this for several years in terms of how we can make those decisions, particularly around the growth of rugby at more local levels.

"We have to move on with that regionalisation, and the governance has to be aligned with that. You can't do everything all at once. So we very much want to get the regionalisation under way in the next season."