David Moffett was a pivotal figure in the development of the game when it turned professional as an administrator with the IRB, SANZAR, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Welsh Rugby Union.

Born in Doncaster, he spent much of his early life in Kenya before his family emigrated to Brisbane, Australia. He later carved out a successful business career before turning his attention to sports administration.

He became executive director of the New South Wales Rugby Union in 1992, when he found himself saddled with Aus$6 million of debt. By the time he moved on three years later, when he became the chief executive of the newly-formed South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby (SANZAR), the board was debt free. While at SANZAR, he negotiated international television contracts and supervised the establishment of the Super 12 competition.

In 1996, he became the first 'non-Kiwi' to be appointed chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Union, helping to guide the body from its amateur status to be among New Zealand's top 200 companies.

He crossed the Tasman once more in November, 1999 when he took up the post of chief executive of the National Rugby League of Australia. Once again, he entered a new role at challenging times as the game in Australia moved towards a 14-team competition. In his two-year tenure he negotiated long-term sponsorship and television rights which provided the financial stability for the code.

In 2002 he joined Sport England as its chief executive with a brief to modernise England's leading sports development agency. However, he soon stepped down to join the Welsh Rugby Union as their chief executive.

He set about streamlining the organisation and servicing their huge debts but the biggest impact he had was on the domestic game with the eventual introduction of regional rugby with the new set-up debuting in the 2003-04 season. Having signed a contract extension to 2008, Moffett resigned from the WRU in 2005 citing personal and family reasons.

He remained an outspoken figure in Welsh rugby, most notably as chief executive of Regional Rugby Wales - a body formed to give the regions a collective voice - who tackled the WRU on several occasions.

In 2013 he signalled his intention to seek re-election to the WRU at a time the board was immersed in a power struggle with the regions.