USARFU chief executive Nigel Melville is a 'surprise' candidate to become head of the Scarlets, according to a Welsh paper.
I don't know the reporter; haven't yet spoken with Nigel; and am dashing among meetings. So I'd counsel taking the report with a grain of salt -- but the implications are momentous.
Former England captain Nigel Melville has emerged as a surprise candidate for the vacant Scarlets chief executive post.
Melville, currently chief executive of USA Rugby, is understood to be on a shortlist to replace the retiring Stuart Gallacher.
The 48-year-old former scrum-half has been a director of rugby at Wasps and Gloucester and moved to the States to take up his new role three years ago.
The region are set to make an announcement on Gallacher's replacement next month.
Melville, currently chief executive of USA Rugby, is understood to be on a shortlist to replace the retiring Stuart Gallacher.
The 48-year-old former scrum-half has been a director of rugby at Wasps and Gloucester and moved to the States to take up his new role three years ago.
The region are set to make an announcement on Gallacher's replacement next month.
Earlier this year, Eagles head coach Scott Johnson abruptly left to take up a post with the Ospreys, like the Scarlets a Welsh provincial outfit.
Rats off the ship.
When all the rats have jumped, just think what we will be left with. These pretender will have poured through upwards of $7m dollars of IRB funds and another several million of dues money from kids. They paid themselves well, did nothing and depart like the wind.
Posted by: jokes on us! | 21 May 2009 at 16:04
Let's not pass judgement until it's official.
Posted by: serzhantovo | 21 May 2009 at 16:42
USA Rugby once again is a holding station for rugby careerists waiting for a new gig in a rugby nation. Expect Eddie to depart as soon as a better coaching position opens up in a club or nation with more talent and money than USA Rugby....which are many.
HAHAHAHA! USA Rugby = Chumps = FAIL
Posted by: HA! Congress Played Again | 21 May 2009 at 16:45
I passed judgment on these chumps a long time ago. I don't care if he gets the job, hell I wouldn't hire him. It says everything that he wants out.
Posted by: haul ass | 21 May 2009 at 16:53
The timing of his trip back home was quite the coinkeedink. All of this on the dime of USA Rugby?
He is a good man and a getleman, but unfortunately listened to the pulse with his twitter finger instead of using his ear. The timing of his departure will set the Union into a free fall, for like a week...
Rumour is that Kevin Roberts is also seeking openings elsewhere as well.
Posted by: Glory hOle | 21 May 2009 at 18:02
Interesting to observe so instability there is within USA Rugby over the past six years. There has been so few positives in this time that it should cause many of the good rugby men and women to pause.
Ever since the end of Anne Barry's time as USA Rugby President, we have been in constant turmoil. The national teams (except sevens) have slipped, the men's eagles have been a world wide joke, and the governing body went the way of Jenny Craig on crack. Slim to nothing.
Who has been in the driver's seat ? The IRB ? vacationing foreigners ?
Isn't it time to get some accountability from those who have been charged with leading the organization ?
Incredibly sad, the whole lot.
Posted by: The Observer | 21 May 2009 at 18:23
serz,
Get with the program hunny.
He was never comfortable in his role.
He was a great compiler of information, unfortunately his twitter finger couldn't communicate fast enough.
His legacy would be painted by Salvador Dali (La persistencia de la memoria). Time truly stood still under his (IRB) watch. The Board of Directors want him to leave before his term runs out. Lets be clear to why the Union is in the "constant" state it's in. The CEO failed in a position that he probably should have failed in. There remains a constant in our Union. Even good rugby men are limited to dependent variable stature because of their ineptitude.
Posted by: Melting pocket watches | 21 May 2009 at 18:54
The Board of Directors ineptitude.
Nige is a gentleman, he did the best he could.
Posted by: Melting pocket watches | 21 May 2009 at 18:57
Nice as Melville might have been, the fact that he was so richly compensated and achieved so very, very little in his time with us will be his legacy.
There were so many plans, meetings, and schemes that have ultimately lead to nothing. Three national team coaches later...
Pathways are so insignificant for our CEO to be spending time on and only pale in comparison to Melville out performing coaching clinics.
We have not, should not, have been paying him $275,000.00 annually to teach little Timmy to spin pass.
It will take someone qualified in running an American NGB a short time to form a plan and begin working it. It will take our union years to recover from decisions made under Roberts and fellow board members (albeit largely absentee) and the Melville-Latham era.
Posted by: Madness | 21 May 2009 at 19:28
Latham - Brendel - Arnot - Melville - ???
Who will be the next clown to fill this post?
Posted by: Barnum & Bailey | 21 May 2009 at 20:02
It's very strange yet not surprising how the poor job done by individuals in USA Rugby has absolutely no bearing on their job prospects overseas. Ospreys fans I knew just rolled their eyes and said "Who cares?" when I told them about how out of his depth Johnson was.
Posted by: Flynn Hagerty | 22 May 2009 at 03:20
I couldn't agree more with your comment Flynn !
Here is what I think Johnson and now Melville would say when asked, "So why do you desire to leave USA Rugby?"
Both would reply with about "how messed up rugby is in America, how the players are bot fit enough, teams don't have their own clubhouses, competitions aren't professionalized, and that the U.S. have a ton of other established pro sports.
Replies like these reinforce the fact that neither Johnson or Melville did any research before jumping at our high paying job, asked no hard questions before accepting the position(s) and once in Boulder realized they were really not that in love with improving rugby in America. It is too hard a job for many.
Barnum and Bailey's post list the names of three clowns and one former Eagle who decided to let Arnot flounder unchecked, and in doing so, allowed the "Dark Years of USA Rugby" begin.
Brendel allows Arnot to repeatedly lie about finances, Latham takes over and supports Arnot too. Everyone realizes too late that Arnot has done nothing in several years but spend money.
The IRB realize Brendel and Latham have allowed the near collapse of the men's team to happen, and in comes a stream of IRB folks, including Thorburn who coaches the team to 0-12 record.
Latham hires Melville, Melville high fives himself hiring Johnson, USA Rugby continue to live off IRB money as Johnson bails, and now as Melville is in the doorway of the USA Rugby airplane ready to jump.
I didn't even touch the change in governance and the cool dude Roberts who so arrogantly proclaims things at board meetings and does nothing to back it up.
Posted by: PTI | 22 May 2009 at 06:08
Please say it IS so!!! Get rid of the clown, bring latham with you, and bring in an American rugger with passion, desire, realism, and ability. USA Rugby doesn't need a figure head, they need a do-er right now. A roll up your sleeves type that has a vision and a realistic plan to get there.
Posted by: Pack it up | 22 May 2009 at 06:54
This belief that NM is a nice guy is so off base. He plays the part of a nice guy, then behind the curtain rips everybody in a punk, non-manly sort of way.
Ask the people who he has been working with. He blames everything on the Board, while talking no responsibility as the $275k chief executive.
The performance of the union under NM has been shocking. Yet worse than the performance has been the unions planning and management. There are no well thought out plans for our future. The amount of waste is unforgivable.
Melville is accompanied in all this by a gutless Congress and out of touch Board.
Get some pride and fire this punk before he can quit on us. Then get out the broom and sweep the rest of this trash towards the door.
Posted by: The Broom | 22 May 2009 at 07:30
Johnson and Melville's lack of ability to deal with the issues of our game seems to feed into my ignorant rubes theory. If we Americans are only exposed to rugby, we'd see the light. The problem is it's not pragmatic and even if we had a capable administrator in all other ways, they'd probably get frustrated and leave when their pleas fall on deaf ears.
Unfortunately the wider rugby world is pretty ignorant of the American game and so any failure is taken as par for the course. Which the Ospreys will find out to their disadvantage, as Johnson's tenure wasn't totally due to an inability to understand the landscape.
It's why if we go outside the US rugby sphere we should be looking at people from US soccer if want to parachute in some administrators. Those people get it.
Posted by: Flynn Hagerty | 22 May 2009 at 08:33
Flynn is right. Look at the business plan that US Soccer has:
http://www.ussoccer.com/governance/bod/business.jsp.html
USA Rugby has nothing remotely similar, and I think it's fair to say we could use something like this ASAP.
Posted by: Soccer | 22 May 2009 at 08:47
Why would a Welsh team hire a Pommie to run it?
Posted by: Bret Skinner | 22 May 2009 at 09:47
Same reason they would hire an Aussie?
I don't hold the animosity towards Melville that seems pretty common but that said if the guy is moving on I hope he does it quickly. We don't need months of speculation ala Scott Johnson.
If you are looking to move on Nigel please step aside now.
Posted by: Doug Lyons | 22 May 2009 at 19:02
For my money, that simple fact the Melville has failed, and is currently and actively seeking other opportunities WHILE we are paying his salary is nothing short of an insult.
Let him interview while on his own dime. We are at the business end of the RSL and at the eve of hosting multiple teams in our own back yard and he is off interviewing for a job !!!!
WTF !
Posted by: You must be joking | 23 May 2009 at 14:42
I say we go with an american...
with top-ten-american-sport leadership exerpience.
how about a league commisioner...someone used to dealing with unions and structure....
how about have a real conversation that if this next round of leadership does not work we disband USARFU.
how about we let high school flurish.... think about the youth game...lets make this sport american the old fashioned way...
how about we let the different levels of rugby govern themselves (the NBA does not govern college hoops or AAU basketball)...
we should be asking, what did we miss...what did we do wrong...
Posted by: cheeseheadrugger | 23 May 2009 at 15:34
Right on Cheesehead. We are America, not England, not Australia, and certainly not New Zealand. Their model for the game is fine for them, but doesn't work for us and that is okay unless we continue to allow these jokers to try make us be something we are not. By the way, I believe this to be true for Japan, Romania, Spain etc.
We are Americans, first, second, third generations- all the same. Let's be different and if we fail, we fail being true to who we are. If we succeed, we will do so know why we succeeded and how to advance the game further.
This is a call to arms to the good rugby men and women who have been at the grass roots, the high school, and college level for a long time. Empower those individuals to carry on in the American Spirit and get things done.
No more playing the sympathy card (no money, not professional, no pro leagues, not fit enough players) because it is not the American Way.
Throw Roberts and Melville out. We could save time, loads of money, and fix this ourselves.
Posted by: Jersey Shore Rugger | 23 May 2009 at 17:46
melville won't get the job. but he should be sent on his way from US rugby for even looking. he deserves to get fired on performance, not he's job shopping. where is the board and congress?
Posted by: wtf is right | 23 May 2009 at 18:01
TEAM AMERICA!
FUCK YEAH!
We kicked the Nazi's asses and we blew the Japs to kingdom come! We are the best nation on the planet and we don't need these dirty slimy foreign douches. I say we go full ghetto with our rugby and let some gangster brothers lose on the world. BYU showed us it works, lets do it you fucking pussys.
Posted by: Uncle Sam | 24 May 2009 at 00:42
Please don't feed the trolls.
Posted by: Zé Cacetudo | The Daily Hype | 24 May 2009 at 02:10
Our best model is going to be a hybrid of the existing rugby models and what we have in the American game. Again, soccer is a good example here.
Soccer has a very strong college game with several big name powers. In the last decade UCLA, Indiana, Stanford, North Carolina, Ohio State, St. John's, Wake Forest and Maryland have played for the national championship. These colleges put guys in the pros and on the national team.
However MLS clubs also sign players after their 18th birthday, providing an avenue for players who just want to be pros and giving more primacy in college to athletes who also want an education. This is obviously closer to the existing rugby model which is also the existing soccer model outside the US. Like these models (and also baseball) a good number of the really top-tier talent starts playing pro at 18 or even younger because that's what they want.
I think that's the optimal way forward. It'd be foolish and against the traditions of US rugby to disregard the colleges, but we also need to provide avenues for prodigies who are ready for the rigors of top level rugby at 18 or 19 years old, which means the club game needs to be nurtured as well. Jonny Wilkinson was an international at 19, and Joe Rokocoko was barely 20 when he first played for NZ.
For right now, college is more important because there's no money in club rugby, but in the long term when the USA is ready to compete with the biggest rugby powers the hybrid model will work well as there should be avenues for guys who just want to go out there and play rugby rather than try and read Rabelais on road trips between games because they've got an exam on Tuesday.
Posted by: Flynn Hagerty | 25 May 2009 at 07:43
Uncle Sam,
You have already done enough for our brave soldiers by loosening military standards, giving clueless dolts automatic weapons, and not having a plan before engagement.
Sounds familiar?
Posted by: 75th Ranger regiment | 25 May 2009 at 07:57
wtf is right,
a congress of whom? volunteers who represent clubs / Tu's / Lau's ?
they dont understand what is right and wrong or understand direction. they are just happy to be there. do we need examples: like the issing money in MARFU? having to pay to attend U19 camps? Eligibility - Aspen, belmont, glendale, OU
it has been proven that the current structure and leadership has stiffled growth of rugby in the name of "control" or "power"...
this is a bad structure. not good.
Posted by: cheeseheadrugger | 25 May 2009 at 09:33
The Varsity model for emerging sports is holding true.
Watching an unreal SU vs Cornell NCAA lax final being held in Foxboro Stadium with close to full capacity crowd. This game gets more than the MLL final. There's three kids on the field from San Diego - where high school lax was only played in a handful of schools five years ago. Its now being played in middle schools here.
The non-NCAA sanctioned lax club competition with teams in non-traditional lax schools like Michigan, BYU, Florida, and dozens of schools in Cali is gaining respect. Soon these schools will get full NCAA lax sanctioning and will expand the game exponentially.
Former USA Eagle flanker, Mike Siano, is a key facilitator for HS lacrosse in Georgia. His involvement in the sport is bringing 2008 Nat'l champs, SU, to the state for the first time for a camp/clinic.
Memo to new CEO & COB -- turn on the TV and watch what's happening with lax, softball, wrestling, and volleyball. Our game can be equally captivating to casual sports fan.
Posted by: SD Hitman | 25 May 2009 at 12:30
SD Hitman hits the nail right on the head. The last two times I was in SD I saw lacrosse sports stores. We are getting lapped by this other sports. I read an interview with Jack Clark this week. He has a pretty simple point for the NCAA crowd - if rugby is ever done the right way we can compete with other spring sports like lacrosse and softball. Unfortunately, I have very littel faith in the current leadership to see this actually happen.
Posted by: AA | 25 May 2009 at 16:29
so so so disheartening to see what is being done with a blatantly inferior sport like lacrosse. But we have inferior people working for our sport unfortunately. Getting foreign people to figure out how to build a sport in America?? Insane. just literally insane. Foreign rugby minds involvement should be limited to coaching and playing rugby here. When it comes to how to build a sport in this country we should have people like Jack Clark and other Americans calling the shots. pure and simple. Not their fault. they just dont understand how our sports system works (f-ing high schools and colleges!!). If i went over to jolly old England I wouldnt know the first thing to do as far as developing anything. When will we get over our enamoration with accents??
Lacrosse is succeeding because it is an american sport and has americans working within the american varsity model and system to build it. And they are succeeding despite having a horrendous sport, product, etc. It is a very very expensive sport to fund, it is pretty fun to play (i played it in high school, almost in college)but it is absolutely horrendous as a spectator sport. no real flow since they arent on skates, the ball is impossible to follow. you only realize someone has scored a goal when the shooter starts celebrating and the goalie drops his head or bangs his ridiculously big netted stick on the ground. Ugggggghhhh. FRUSTRATION!!
Posted by: college rugby!!! | 25 May 2009 at 20:00
Just admit that the rugby community in the USA are complete failures, and stop blaming the imports following IRB directives. Your precious countrymen have been at the helm of USA Rugby since the 70s and have not done crap. The funny talkers have only been in charge for 3 years or so. Look in the mirror USA rugby community and realize you are FAILURES!
USA Rugby Community = World Rugby Village Idiots
Posted by: Village Idiot | 25 May 2009 at 22:05
The silence from Boulder is deafening....Some factoids about Lacrosse.First university team fielded in 1877 at NYU,first high school teams fielded in 1882,by Lawrenceville,Andover and a couple of other prep schools.It's only recently that Lax has had a meteoric rise in popularity and growth.Just sayin.....
Posted by: JJ | 26 May 2009 at 08:55
It was less than a decade ago that the majority of the USA rugby community seemed to be explicitly anti-Clark and accusing him of stifling rugby's growth in our country.
Years of failed leadership later, how things have changed.
Posted by: Irony... | 26 May 2009 at 09:40
JJ
Havent we had rugby in the states as far back as the 1930's when our Stanford U team represented the USA in the Olympics and brought home gold? We too could have been making the same inroads lax has in the last 20years.
Heck, it was only 15 years ago we lost to Australia by 4 or 5 points at the most scenic of all California destinations......Riverside.
Its criminal that we haven't rode any momentum of past success into any sort of tangible marketable product.
Somebody see if AYSO can take over USAR. They can run youth rugby during soccer off-seasons and increase their membership by X (I have no clue on US youth rugby demographics). Sorta like Barcelona or AC Milan starting a rugby club. Fine example of Americans nurturing a funny-talker sport.....
Posted by: SD Hitman | 26 May 2009 at 09:59
As an FYI Nigel Melville has put to rest the rumors that he is moving on. He's here through his contract period - he states so directly on his blog ...
Posted by: Doug Lyons | 26 May 2009 at 11:11
what american would you go with who would be on the short list
Posted by: JR | 26 May 2009 at 12:55
Bruce McLane for CEO. Just think of the comedy that would produce!
Posted by: McLame | 26 May 2009 at 13:23
Doug - you mean Melville did not get the job, because that is what really happened.
Melville not getting the job is one thing, that we continue to pay him for such a lousy job is another matter altogether.
Your comment makes is sound like Melville is the only one with some say in the matter of his employment with us ...?
Excuse me, but most of American Rugby wasn't holding their breath that Melville would be staying on, rather just the opposite.
Posted by: Lionhearted | 26 May 2009 at 14:53
f*ck Melville. He has lost all cred. Of course he didn't get the job, the guy is not a CEO.
Posted by: CEO Not | 26 May 2009 at 14:53
Dana White or Mark Cuban
Posted by: SD Hitman | 26 May 2009 at 15:07
White or Cuban?
Fat chance.
Just sit back for another 5 years until these circle jerks have finished milking their own cookies. We deserve it.
The roaming gnome will be gone with the first decent offer. He will be replaced by another IRB approved non-passport holder.
I am struggling with the fact that someone has said that Nige is completely full of shit. I did not get that impression. I see him and Johnson more like the Peter Sellers character from Being There than a Bill Clinton type.
Posted by: Chauncey Gardner | 26 May 2009 at 17:07
We have gone from the Eagles paying for themselves, while kicking a couple hundred grand to the union, to spending every dime we have on the Eagles. This includes millions of IRB grants and much of the CIPP dues income.
While following this business practice the Eagles have fell from 13th to 19th.
When is somebody on the Congress going to start asking questions of the CEO and Board?
Melville complains things were messed up when he got here, well not as messed up as now after three years of IRB investment and his leadership. In no other business would this executive and Board not been sacked.
Posted by: old board | 27 May 2009 at 08:21
Does the selected Eagle squad of 22 even get per diem anymore? I remember seeing the pay structure for the RWC'99. There were delineated breakdowns for making the 22, making the starting 15, completing the match, win bonus, etc. Had they won the World Cup the payout would've been $50,000 per player.
I hope its more than just a few nights in a hotel, free meals, and cool kit that they offer these guys now...
Posted by: SD Hitman | 27 May 2009 at 10:28
Village Idiot,
Foreigners and non-athletes have predominantly run my clubs, LAUs and TU since I have been around rugby. Maybe you need to remove your head from your ass before you comment on policy and where you rank your brethren in charge.
Posted by: cherio mates and the last one picked | 27 May 2009 at 19:21