The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has apologised after a woman claimed she was assaulted in a cupboard at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

The former employee’s allegations have emerged after a damning report into behaviours at the governing body was published in November.

The review found a “toxic” and “vindictive” culture.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told ITV Wales she was assaulted on two occasions between 2019 and 2021.

She said that on one occasion her then colleague was “waiting there in the cupboard in the office”.

“He pulled the door shut and wedged me up against some of the stock and sexually assaulted me,” she said, adding that she “froze” and “just wanted to be invisible”.

Abi Tierney, who was appointed the first female chief executive of the WRU in August last year, said the behaviour described was “totally unacceptable”.

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Ms Tierney was appointed after Steve Phillips resigned in January 2023 following a BBC investigation which revealed allegations of sexism and misogyny at the organisation.

“Our culture did not prevent such an incident from happening and, whilst we know our people team worked hard to offer support and care over an extended period of time, some of our HR policies for addressing such incidences were not right,” she said.

“We have said already that we regret the use of non-disclosure settlements or similar arrangements where employment ended.

“More widely, I would like to reiterate the full apology both myself and others have previously offered to anyone who has been affected by issues and challenges highlighted by our recent independent review.”

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The WRU says it understands the reported incident was one of the cases examined as part of the wider culture review.

But as people contributed to it on a confidential basis, the body cannot confirm whether or not the individual chose to speak to the review.

“We continue to encourage people to access our whistleblowing line if they are uncomfortable speaking to their line management about any issues,” Ms Tierney added.

“As we have already said, we understood that historical cases may come forward during and after the review period.

“We continue to welcome dialogue with anyone involved or affected by any of the issues raised, so that we can apologise to them and continue to learn and improve.”

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