Sydney Super Rugby franchise the Waratahs and the New South Wales Rugby Union have announced that Andrew Hore is the new Chief Executive Officer of both organisations.
Hore (not the recent All Black) has spent the last four years at the helm of Ospreys in Wales, one of Europe’s leading rugby brands, and will take over from current CEO, Greg Harris in mid-April.
With 20 years’ experience in rugby, Hore has an excellent reputation for building solid teams that work across the business to create strong and sustainable results.
Waratahs Rugby Chairman, Roger Davis said the Board was delighted with Andrew’s appointment following a lengthy global search for a CEO to manage both the Waratahs and NSWRU.
“As a seasoned administrator, with experience in international rugby circles, Andrew brings to the joint CEO role a unique set of competency skills that distinguished him from the other quality candidates in the global search,” Davis said.
“Andrew has expertise both on and off the field, in player development, high performance management, pathways expertise and coaching, as well as substantial knowledge about the importance of underpinning these capabilities with a strong level of commercial and rugby performance.
“In making our decision, the Board wanted to ensure we appointed a new CEO who has the ability not only to build a sustainable business model for rugby in the State, but to also bridge the gap between community and professional rugby through appropriate pathways programs, whilst ensuring the ongoing financial and football success of the Waratahs and NSW Rugby as a whole.
“On behalf of the entire Board I would therefore like to welcome Andrew to NSW and also thank Greg Harris for his great work in stabilising the organisation across the last 12 months.
“Greg came into the organisation at a challenging time. He oversaw the appointment of Head Coach, Daryl Gibson and contracted many of our current playing talent. In addition, he led the successful negotiations of the Venue Hire Agreement with the SCG Trust, ensuring Allianz Stadium as our home for the next 16 years.
“We are extremely appreciative of his considerable contribution and will be sorry to see him retire from the Waratahs.”
Hore has spent the last four years developing the vision for the Ospreys region, overseeing the financial planning while maintaining a strong level of commercial and rugby performance.
He led the development of a Community Foundation for Ospreys, to enhance the Club’s commitment to the community, and has also been extensively involved in negotiations to expand the European Rugby Competition.
With a background in sports science and business management, Hore started as the Performance Manager for Canterbury Rugby in 1997 and was involved in the initiation of the first rugby academy in New Zealand.
He continued as the Conditioning Coach for Canterbury Rugby and Crusaders Rugby from 1999 to 2002, a period which saw the Crusaders win the Super 12 Championship on three occasions.
In 2002, Hore joined the Welsh Rugby Union as Director of Physical Conditioning and Player Development. Whilst there he played an integral part in redeveloping the structure and culture of
the Club, building a system which helped produce a grand slam winning team in 2005, the first grand slam for Wales in 27 years.
He then became the High Performance Manager at New Zealand Rugby Union before returning to Wales in his initial role at Ospreys as Chief Operating Officer.
Andrew Hore
Education
Otago University – Degree in Sports Science
Massey University – Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (one paper pending)
Member of the Institute of Directors – currently completing a Certificate in Directorship
Experience
Performance Manager – Canterbury Rugby (1997 – 2000)
Conditioning Coach – Canterbury Crusaders Super 12 and Canterbury Rugby (1999 – 2002)
Director of Physical Conditioning and Player Development – Welsh Rugby Union (2002 – 2005)
High Performance Manager – New Zealand Rugby Union (2005 – 2008)
Chief Executive Officer / formally Chief Operating Officer – Ospreys Rugby (2008 – 2016)
ENDS
