- Appointment is the next stage in a process of refocusing development
- "Delighted to have secured someone of Jez' calibre." - Andrew Scoular
The RFU has appointed Jez Allman to the new post of Head of Club and Constituent Body Services.
Allman's appointment is the next stage in a process of refocusing its development efforts on building sustainable rugby clubs across England.
The 44-year-old former Leicester Tigers player will be responsible for the development and delivery of the RFU's strategic aim of establishing a new adult team in all of those member clubs.
Father of three Allman, a sales and marketing professional with extensive experience at board level, including team management, started today and will oversee the RFU's 170-strong field based development staff.
Andrew Scoular, RFU Community Rugby Director, said: "We are delighted to have secured someone of Jez' calibre as we refocus our efforts on the sustainability of the core foundation of rugby union in England - our clubs.
"Jez was selected from a high quality field of candidates and we were impressed by his experience in engaging constructively with stakeholders, developing, training and leading teams, as well as a vision which complements our strategic aims.
"Our overriding target is to establish a new adult team in all clubs and look towards new opportunities to grow the game in support of those clubs. To do that we identified that such an increase in participation would require our clubs to be sustainable entities capable of achieving this target.
"We needed someone to meet that challenge full on and to work with our clubs, Constituent Bodies and committed field staff to deliver that result. We firmly believe that Jez is the right person."
Allman said: "I am passionate about rugby - my dad played for Sale so I grew up in a rugby environment - and it's something I have been involved with all my life.
"Hopefully I can take my sales and team leadership experience and apply it to making our clubs sustinable enterties at the heart of the community.
"With the Women's World Cup this year, Rugby World Cup 2011 and then England hosting the 2015 event there is a fantastic opportunity to grow the game in our clubs."