The former international, who played for Scotland between 1984 and 1991 and was a key figure in Scotland’s Five Nations Grand Slam in 1990, has been chair of Scottish Rugby Ltd for three years.

On Wednesday night, he informed the board of the Scottish Rugby Union, the custodian body which represents Scottish rugby clubs – the owners of the game in Scotland – that he would be stepping down immediately and would not seek re-appointment as a non-executive director.

Mr Jeffrey’s new role will be ratified by the World Rugby Council at its annual meeting on May 11 and he will serve until November 2024, the end of the current term.

He said: “It made sense, given the enormous demands of the World Rugby vice-chair role, especially at such an exciting time for the game, with the World Cup later this year in France, to give the SRU clarity on my intentions and to focus 100% on my new role.

“It’s been an enormous privilege to have helped grow the game in Scotland over the past three years and I am looking forward to what will, I am sure, be a hugely demanding and satisfying term as vice-chair.”

Prof. Lorne Crerar, chair of the SRU, said: “John has been one of the truly iconic figures in the Scottish game over the past four decades and we wish him every success in his new, global role. It will be hugely prestigious for Scottish Rugby to have one of our own at the sport’s top table.”

Colin Rigby, president of Scottish Rugby, who sits on the SRU Board, said: “On behalf of the SRU, I’d like to thank John for his efforts at many levels of the sport and wish him well in his important new role.

“As part of our new governance structures, adopted last November, we had already begun a recruitment exercise to appoint a new chair of Scottish Rugby Limited.

“I am pleased to say we have an outstanding roster of highly respected, experienced and successful candidates, each with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to ensure that Scottish rugby is best placed to thrive and succeed in the coming years. We expect to be able to announce this pivotal appointment in the coming weeks.”