Lyndon Bray is new Tasman Rugby Union boss

By Tim O'Connell [Stuff]

Former international referee Lyndon Bray is the new chief executive of the high-flying Tasman Rugby Union.

TRU chairman Wayne Young said 34 applications had been received for the job vacated by Tony Lewis in December, with several candidates having significant global rugby experience.

He said the board and senior management had been willing to wait as long as necessary to find the right person.

Young said Bray's passion for rugby and proven track record of success as a leader both in rugby and corporate circles had made him an obvious choice.

He said the organisation was excited about what Bray would bring to Tasman rugby and its stakeholders at all levels of rugby in the region.

"Lyndon will be a really passionate rugby identity as well as all the other things he'll bring with him - he just lives for that rugby stuff - he's more excited than we are.

"He really wanted this role and that really came through from day dot when we first took his application."

The Tasman Mako are the defending provincial rugby champions, winning the premiership in 2019 and 2020.

Bray has had a rich and varied professional career which has seen him traverse both the corporate and sporting worlds over the last 30 years.

He will be familiar to Kiwis as a leading referee at Super Rugby and international level between 2001 to 2008.

Prior to his professional refereeing career, 54-year-old Bray had held key roles with Telecom and the BNZ.

He has run also his own coaching business in Wellington and after his refereeing career moved into sports management, leading the Super Rugby Referee Team at SANZAAR for 10 years. In recent years, he has been based in South Africa where he has run a leadership development business, Braydiver.

Bray will be relocating to Tasman once his quarantine is organised.

His immediate objectives will include engagement with the TRU staff and directors, commercial sponsors and community clubs so that he can gain a first-hand insight into the requirements of all stakeholders.

Bray said he was "excited and humbled to be given this incredible opportunity to join one of NZ's premier provincial unions and to be given the responsibility to help make a difference in the next era of Tasman Rugby."

"Tony Lewis has left us all a very well-oiled ship and I am indebted to him for that. This is a very special new journey for me and I look forward to the challenge."