Pugh's death leaves huge void in game

Vernon Pugh, the chairman of the International Rugby Board for the last seven years and one of the sharpest sporting administrators of his generation, has died after an eight-month struggle with cancer. He leaves behind him a game in turmoil – more popular than ever before with broadcasters and the paying public, but more financially challenged than at any time since the lurch towards professionalism in 1995 – and one crying out for inspirational leadership.

A successful barrister who specialised in commercial and environmental law, Pugh played and coached at a modest level before becoming chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union in 1993. Within a year, he was chairman of the IRB, too, and after overseeing the demise of the amateur era following the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, he was responsible for many of the more innovative developments in the European and world game: the consolidation of the Heineken Cup, the expansion of the old Five Nations tournament to incorporate Italy and the drive towards the re-establishment of rugby union as an Olympic sport.

Pugh was taken ill last September, shortly after the controversy surrounding the collapse of New Zealand's bid to co-host this year's World Cup with Australia, and died on Thursday night at a hospice in Penarth. He was 57. "Vernon was one of a rare breed," said David Moffett, the chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union. "He helped take the IRB into a new era."