Vernon Pugh

Vernon Pugh QC 5th July 1945 - 24th April 2003 30 APRIL 2003 Glanville Vernon Pugh was born just as the Second World War was ending, in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire. His father, a coal miner, made a point of taking his three teenage sons down the pit, only to say to them, "I never want to see you near a place like this again." Vernon was true to his father’s wishes. He was educated at Amman Valley Grammar School from where he progressed to university to study law, first at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, and then at Downing College, Cambridge. He chose to pursue a career as a barrister, and was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 1969. He lectured briefly at Leicester University after leaving Cambridge, but shortly joined chambers in Cardiff (and later in Gray’s Inn in London too) and began the business of building what was to become a thriving practice, specialising in planning and development law. He was to become a leading figure in some of Britain’s most important, and often contentious, planning inquiries. In 1986, he ’took Silk’ and became a Queen’s Counsel, and later served as a recorder (part-time judge) on the Wales & Chester circuit. He declined an offer to become a High Court judge, because he had by then become deeply and passionately involved with the administration of international rugby, and he would not have been allowed to do both. Not for the last time, he put his commitment to rugby before his professional career. A hard-tackling centre three-quarter, Vernon Pugh played rugby for Amman United; Leicester; Pontypridd; St Peter’s, Cardiff; and Cardiff High School Old Boys. Another memorable Cardiff High School Old Boys match was in the first round of the Welsh Cup in 1973-74, when Vernon scored a try in a shock 24-0 win against Penarth. He also regularly played alongside his brother John in the Old Boys centre. He competed until the late 1970s, being skipper of the Old Boys 2nd XV in 1977-78. When the time came for Vernon to hang up his playing boots, he turned his enthusiasm to coaching, initially at Cardiff High School Old Boys, whom he renamed Cardiff Harlequins, and later at Cardiff Institute (now UWIC), and at the Welsh Universities. In 1989, the Welsh Rugby Union commissioned Vernon Pugh QC to examine and report upon the circumstances in which a number of Welsh players and officials had gone to South Africa to participate in the celebration of the centenary of the South African Rugby Football Union. He produced a powerful report critical of all those involved, and critical too of the Welsh Rugby Union. When the contents of his report were leaked to the press in 1993, a vote of no confidence in the Committee of the Welsh Rugby Union ensued, followed by new Committee elections. Pugh was called upon to stand for election and, despite his reluctance, was persuaded to do so. He joined the Committee, and was elected Chairman at his very first meeting, an office he went on to hold until 1997. During this time, he oversaw the restructuring of Welsh rugby, both on and off the field, and was responsible for striking a number of major television and sponsorship deals. Vernon Pugh’s qualities as a rugby administrator and negotiator were quickly recognised outside the Principality, and he rapidly assumed office on the international stage as well; in 1994 he became Chairman of the International Rugby Board (IRB) on a rotational basis, the following year he became Chairman of the IRB’s Amateurism Committee, in 1996, as the first elected Chairman of the Board and then in 1997 he became the first independent elected Chairman. He served as the Board’s Chairman from that date until his death. It was his work in relation to amateurism which first etched Vernon Pugh’s mark indelibly on the face of world rugby, for he successfully persuaded the traditionalists that rugby had no option but to relinquish its amateur status. He argued that, unless the International Board established full control of the sport and rewarded