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World Rugby Staff

World Rugby Staff 2022

World Rugby - Meet the team in 2023

CHAIRMAN’S OFFICE

Sir Bill Beaumont

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Bernard Laporte (France, 2017) (self-suspended effective Dec 13, 2022)

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S OFFICE

Alan Gilpin
Chief Executive Officer

Cara Gorey 
Executive Assistant

COMPETITIONS AND HIGH PERFORMANCE

Nigel Cass 
Chief Competitions and Performance Officer 

Caroline O’Connell
Competitions and Performance Team Assistant

Simon Kibble
Head of Men's XVs

Michael Groom
Competitions Operations Manager – High Performance and Regional Competitions

Deirdre O’Sullivan
Head of Operations & Regional Competitions

Sue O’Connor
Competitions Project Coordinator

Carmel O’Dwyer
Competitions Co-ordinator 

Elaine Taylor
Competitions and Performance Co-ordinator

Alison Hughes
Head of Women’s Competitions

Simone Papirnik
RWC 2022 Team Services Manager 

Courtney Allison-Young
RWC 2021 Tournament Services Manager

HIGH PERFORMANCE

Peter Horne
Director of High Performance 

Mike Chu
High Performance Elite Education Manager

Agnès Congoste 
High Performance Operations Manager

Conor Molan 
High Performance Investment Manager 

Nicky Ponsford
Women's High Performance Manager 

Ecem Ozcan
High Performance Operations Co-ordinator

SEVENS COMPETITIONS

Douglas Langley
Head of Sevens Competitions 

Cian Twomey 
Sevens Project Manager

RUGBY WORLD CUP

Michel Poussau
RWC Executive Director 

Eva Agliardi
RWC Team Assistant 

Amy Bell
RWC Projects Manager 

Joan Breslin
RWC 2023 Project Co-ordinator

Rita Figueiredo
RWC  Rugby Services Manager

Stephanie Diconne
RWC 2023 Team Services Executive

Eugenie Delaporte
RWC 2023 Travel & Hospitality Manager

Suzanne Mispelon
RWC 2023 Hospitality Co-ordinator

Trish Drinan
RWC 2023 Rugby Services Consultant

Rob Abernethy
General Manager, RWC 2027 Operations

EVENTS

Michel Poussau
Chief of Events

Mick Wright
Chief of Operations

EVENT DELIVERY

Ross Aitken
Director, Event Operations

Katie Burgess
Head of  Venue Operations

Nicola Alesbrook
Director of Event Planning

Harriet Greenop
Head of Event Readiness & Operational Planning

Sian Hill
Head of Event Planning & Risk

EVENT SERVICES

Enda Connolly
RWC Team and Rugby Services Director

Mark Huddleston
RWC Team and Rugby Services Director

Gemma Crowley
Project Delivery Manager

Claire Birchmore
Project Delivery Manager

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND PARTICIPATION

David Carrigy
Chief International Relations and Participation Officer 

James Davy 
Event Manager 

Erin Brown
Tournament Guest Programme and Meetings Manager 

Shaunna O'Riordan
Travel Manager

Gilles Fabre 
Language Services Manager 

Colum Lavery 
Head of Governance

Cormac Horgan 
Governance Assistant 

Jason Lewis
Director Participation 

Greg Woods
Participation Programmes Manager

Ninette Kruyt
Women's Participation Programme Manager

Clare Barrell
Director of Investment & Member Services

Bruce Cook
Regional Partnership Manager – Oceania 

Jennifer Gray 
Regional Partnership Manager – North America

Anne O’Callaghan
Investments Manager 

Santiago Ramallo 
Regional Partnership Manager – South America

Ridzal Saat
Regional Partnership Manager – Asia

Coralie Van Den Berg
Regional Partnership Manager – Africa

PLAYER WELFARE AND RUGBY SERVICES

Mark Harrington
Chief Player Welfare and Rugby Services Officer

Phil Davies
Director Of Rugby

GAME ANALYSIS

Rhys Jones
Head of Game Analysis

Callum Howells
Game Analyst

Ben Hester 
Player Welfare Game Analyst

Matthew Johnston
International Sevens Game Analyst

Adam Smith
Domestic Fifteens Game Analyst 

Ian Costigan
Women's Rugby Analyst 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Steve Hinds
Citing Commissioner Manager

Craig Joubert
Match Official Talent Development Coach

Joël Jutge
Fifteens Match Official Manager

Alhambra Nievas
Women’s High Performance Referee Manager

Paddy O’Brien 
Sevens High Performance Match Official Manager

Tracy O’Callaghan 
Match Officials  Operations Manager

EDUCATION, LAWS AND COMPLIANCE

Jock Peggie
Head of Education, Laws and Compliance

Isabel Grondin
Medical Education Manager

Dr Joseph Kalanzi
Medical Education Manager

Fraser Gow
Training and Education Co-ordinator

Keith Lewis
Laws Co-ordinator

Dr Andrew Smith
Medical Compliance Manager

ANTI-DOPING AND GAME RESEARCH 

Mike Earl
Director of Anti-Doping and Game Equipment

Ross Blake
Anti-Doping Education Manager 

Martha Hassett
Anti-Doping Administrator

Neale Lees
Turf and Equipment Manager

David Ho
Senior Manager Anti-Doping Operations

Stuart Kelly
Anti-Doping Testing & Quality Specialist

Clive Kennington
Anti-Doping Testing Programme Co-ordinator 

Julian Murphy
Anti-Doping Testing Administrator

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER 

Dr Éanna Falvey  
Chief Medical Officer

Dr Martin Raftery
Deputy Chief Medical Officer 

Deirdre Keating
Player Welfare and Rugby Services Project Manager 

Danielle Salmon
Concussion Research Co-ordinator

Lindsay Starling
Science & Medical Manager

Mike Hislop
Injury Prevention and Surveillance Researcher

REVENUE AND FAN ENGAGEMENT

Richard Heaselgrave
Chief Revenue and Fan Engagement Officer 

Samantha Benvie
Executive Assistant, Revenue and Fan Engagement

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

Kalle Kauppila
Director of Fan Data & Business Solutions

Adrian Melville
Head of TMCO

Rob Vickerman
TMCO Manager, 7s

Johnnie Beattie
TMCO Manager, 15s

Paige Mosberg
Head of Business Solutions

Ashley Lewis
Visual Designer

Peter Smith
Business Solutions Consultant

Anji Udeshi
Head of Fan Data

Cathy Newman
Fan Insights Manager

Michelle O’Loughlin 
R&FE Team Administrator

Marie Therese Duignan
Business Solutions Team Co-ordinator

Jack Tucker
Business Solutions Strategist

Kevin Bouwer
Data Scientist

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Benjamin Slack
General Manager, Business Development

Stephen Dumpleton
Head of Event Partnerships

Ben Ball
Head of Business Development Projects

Ruth Dillon 
Business Development Co-ordinator

Fran Vavallo
Head of Digital Business Development

Nick Morris
Commercial Programme Manager

Laura Martin-Prud'Homme
Digital Business Development Manager

Tom Akehurst
Head of Business Development

Owen White
Business Development Manager

Susannah Weyman 
Business Development Manager

Jack Hamshaw
Business Development Manager

Chris Synott
Head of Media Rights 

Dominic Young 
Media Rights Manager

EXPERIENTIAL

Greta Cooper
Director of Experiential

Bree Hassanein
Experiential Manager 

Pauline Dugravot
Experiential Manager

Meg Mitchell
Marketing Partnerships Manager

Malgorzata Stabinska
Experiential Co-ordinator

Rob Westworth
Head of Experiential 7s

Georgiana Boland
7s Experiential Manager

PARTNERSHIPS & BRAND

James Ralley
Director of Partnerships and Brand

Virginie Segalen
Head of Merchandise & Licensing

Cristian Cerimele
Broadcast Partnerships Manager

Nina Wright
Marketing Partnerships Account Director (Women’s)

Kenzo Pannell
Commercial Operations Manager

Laurent Salhi
Commercial Operations Manager

Sarah Appleton
Commercial Operations Manager

Alex Heslop
Marketing Partnerships Account Manager

Youssef Hassan
Marketing Partnerships Account Manager

Rachel Godsave
Marketing Partnerships Account Manager

Kyle Miecinski
Marketing Partnerships Account Manager

Pierre-Alexandre Martini
RWC 2023 Global Partnerships Account Executive

Harry Bridgland
Global Partnerships Account Executive, Sevens

Miri Keck
Head of Brands

Namu Desai
Brand Designer 

Lynda Jones
Brand Designer

Suzi Murray
Marketing Campaign Manager

PUBLISHING & CONTENT

James Rothwell
Director, Publishing & Content

Kim Ekin
Senior Manager, Editorial & SEO

Tom Rendell
Senior Manager, Digital

Lewis Plumb
Manager Digital

James Bass
Senior Digital Marketing Manager

Adrian D'Arcy
Digital Marketing Manager

Danielle De Kock
Social Media Manager

Edward Parker
Social Media Contributor

Tom Parker
Social Lead

Ben Matthews
Video Production Manager

Finlay Reith
Video Creator

Pierre Turpin
Digital Manager

Amanda Godson
Head of Broadcast & Production

Steve Jamieson
Executive Producer, TV and Content

Louise Brown
Senior Production Manager

Heather Neil
Broadcast Operations Manager

Sarah Lunn
Broadcast Services Manager

Ian Cameron
Editorial Lead, Northern Hemisphere

Ben Smith
Editorial Lead, Southern Hemisphere

Liam Heagney
Content Editor

Tom Vinicombe
Content Specialist

Josh Raisey
Content Contributor

TICKETING

Lizzie Howells
Head Of Ticketing

Louise Jolly
Ticketing Sales Manager

Carol Casey
Ticketing Sales Manager

Nicola Murphy
Ticketing Operations Director

Vivien Castel
RWC 2023 Ticketing Operations Executive

Jeanne Lemesle
RWC 2023 Ticketing Operations Executive

SEVENS

Sam Pinder
General Manager, Sevens World Series

James Cloake
Commercial Manager 7s

STRATEGY 

Mihir Warty
Chief Strategy Officer

Jaime McKeown 
Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion Manager

Myles Green
Head of Strategy 

Ola Obaro
Head of Business Planning

WOMENS RUGBY

Sally Horrox
Chief, Womens Rugby

Atlanta St John
Women’s Projects Manager

Anne Grumelard
Development Programme Manager 

CORPORATE SERVICES

Charlotte Samuelson
Chief Operating Officer

Niamh Holmes
COO Executive Assistant 

FINANCE

Robert Brophy
Chief Financial Officer

Anthony Downey
Group FP&A Manager

Liam Carroll
BI Analyst

Alex Flynn
FP&A Manager

Margaret Downey
Group Financial Reporting Accountant

Joan McElwain
Finance Manager

Lynn Donohoe
Accounts Payable Manager

Susan Duffy
Accounts Payable Executive

Emma Dunne
Accounts Receivable & Banking Manager

LEGAL

Ali Maclean
Group General Counsel

Rosabelle Welsh
Executive Assistant and Team Administrator, Legal

Yvonne Nolan
General Counsel Federation

Brian Hammond
Legal Counsel

Joyce Hayes
Disciplinary & Eligibility Co-ordinator

Lynsey Mulvihill
General Counsel Events

Fran Moran
Legal Counsel Events

Caoimhe Murdock
Legal Counsel Events

Sarah O'Donnell
Senior Legal Counsel, Events

Alexander Barker
Senior Legal Counsel, Events

Stephan Smith
Senior Legal Counsel, Federation

Susan Barry
Legal Counsel, Federation

Caroline Nolan
Legal Co-ordinator

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Lisa Lowry
People & Culture Director

John Hiley
Talent Acquistion Manager

Cindy McCarthy
Reward, HR Operations & Mobility Manager

Niall O'Donoghue
Talent And Organisation Development Manager

Andrew Kieran
HR Operations Co-ordinator

Sarah Carew
Reward & Mobility Executive

RISK MANAGEMENT

Rich Cummings
Director, Risk Management

Mihika Newell-Hughes
Risk Manager

Susan Spellman
Head of Risk Operation & Control Assurance

DELIVERY & DATA

Clare Skelly
Director, Delivery & Data

Caroline Murnane
Data Manager

Linda Hoey
Head of Competitions Strategic Projects 

TECHNOLOGY

Jasmin Allott
Group Technology Director

John Corbett
Head of Cybersecurity and Data Governance

Gearoid Slowey
Head of Group Technology Operations

Adrian McDonagh
IT Project Manager

Gary Fanning
Systems Administrator

Shane Kelly
Service Desk Analyst

Tristan Balita
Service Desk Analyst

Darren Gibson
Events Technology Manager

Chris Hope
Head of Tournament & Venue Technology

Claire Murphy
Competitions Technology Project Manager

Jake Collard
Tournament Management Systems Application Manager

Ronan Donagher
Head of Game Systems

Peter Connolly
Game Data Project Manager

Tom Sorsby
Game Data Business Owner

Marc Douglas
Project Manager, Game Systems

Shannon Kampfer
Junior Project Manager

COMMUNICATIONS

Dominic Rumbles
Chief Communications Officer

Karen Bond
Media Services Manager 

Dorian Grimaud
Communications Manager 15s

Phil Wilkinson
Head of PR and Communications

Peter Hannon
Player Welfare PR Manager

 

 

World Rugby departments