Waratahs chairman Zemancheff quits in wake of dreadful Super Rugby season

Edwin Zemancheff has stepped down as chairman of the Waratahs Rugby Board of Directors following two seasons in charge.

The decision comes after a poor Super Rugby campaign where the team lost its final eight matches.

Zemancheff and the Waratahs Rugby organisation were put on notice by NSW Rugby on Saturday when NSW Rugby chairman Nick Farr-Jones said the Waratahs needed to re-engage with a “disenfranchised” public and told the Daily Telegraph the NSWRU are reviewing their Super Rugby licencing deal with current Waratahs bosses.

After the split of the professional and community arms of NSW Rugby in 2009, the NSWRU retained the licence for Super Rugby but gave it to Waratahs Rugby for five years, for an annual fee of $1-$1.175m.

The agreement has two years left to run but after a disappointing Super Rugby season on and off-field, Farr-Jones told the Telegraph that NSWRU were currently discussing and reviewing the licence deal, suggesting more immediate action could be on the cards.

The Waratahs’ licence was the agenda of a NSWRU board meeting last Friday.

“From a community rugby perspective I have continued to make suggestions about how we can do it better, but the actual playing and coaching side of it is not my responsibility,” Farr Jones said.

A statement released on the Waratahs Rugby website tonight praised Zemancheff.

It read:
”Edwin Zemancheff was appointed Waratahs Rugby Chairman in December 2009 and in two seasons has helped the organisation establish a strong financial position and secured a high calibre Board that will enable Waratahs Rugby to deliver a sustainable future for the whole of Rugby in NSW.

“Established in June 2010 as a distinctly separate and independent entity to administer all aspects of professional Rugby in NSW, Waratahs Rugby last year contributed $1,175,000 to the New South Wales Rugby Union community game through License Fees and other grants and still recorded a net operating profit of $49,990.

“Having completed his objective of leading the new organisation through two full seasons, Zemancheff’s decision to step down allows him to pursue his other non-executive directorships. A respected and successful businessman and lawyer, Zemancheff has 20 years’ legal experience as a partner in a global law firm. He serves on the Board of a number of other public and private companies and previously held a non-executive director position with the New South Wales Rugby Union and was its Chairman between 2008 and 2010.

“A decision on his replacement will be made in due course. No further comment will be made until this time.”

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