Kelso rugby legend John Jeffrey taking on international role

Scottish Rugby board chairman John Jeffrey during the union's 2022 annual meeting last August at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group/SRU)

Jeffrey – currently chairman of Scottish Rugby’s board of directors but due to stand down next month, though he’ll stay on as a director – was nominated for that vacant position by his home union, with South Africa’s union seconding him.

Because he was the only candidate nominated, the 64-year-old is deemed to have been elected subject to ratification by World Rugby’s council at its annual meeting for 2023 on Thursday, May 11.

Jeffrey has been a member of the council, formerly the International Rugby Board, since 2010.

A farmer by trade, he was capped for Scotland at flanker 40 times between 1984 and 1991, playing alongside the likes of fellow Borderers Tony Stanger, Craig Chalmers and Gary Armstrong.