PHOTO:
Bill Carne with Martyn Phillips and Gordon Eynon

Martyn Phillips has recently been appointed as Chief Executive Officer for the Welsh Rugby Union and he received a warm welcome home when he held a consultative meeting with representatives from all the clubs in District H at Narberth RFC.
 
Because Phillips hails from Fishguard and told the gathering how pleased he was to finish his nine meetings across Wales in his home county, outlining his own career, which saw him represent Wales at under 15 level and making it in to the squad for the Welsh Schools Under 18s before a leg injury forced him out of the game and he focussed on a very busy working life.
 
He ultimately achieved the role of CEO with the B&Q group and eventually was appointed the board of its parent Kingfisher Group before his current appointment, where he will closely with Gareth Davies, the chairman of the WRU.
 
He told PembrokeshireSport  that his early playing memories were alongside the likes of Meirion Williams, Willie Myles, Russell Parry-Jones and Kevin Walsh at Fishguard, and that he still kept his hand in on the coaching side in Southampton, with his son playing in the team.
 
But now he has to attune his mind to higher things and after a brief resume of his career to date he fielded questions from his audience ranging from the current state of the game in Wales, especially with regard to support for junior union, youth and junior rugby – and on to ticketing, drinking in the Millennium auditorium and the autumn internationals.
 
Also in attendance was Gordon Eynon, the District H director on the WRU, and the committee of the Pembrokeshire Rugby Union, with John Purser providing the official ‘thank you’ and with the general opinion of Martyn Phillips’ audience being that the new CEO had made a promising start!