Scottish Rugby Union Board

I was educated at Kelvinside Academy, Glasgow. I was a difficult, troubled young student, suspended twice from attending school – once for fighting and finally for throwing a half-brick through the Rector’s window.

Rugby saved me. I was a very talented player, the teachers and school took a real interest in me because of it. Without rugby and the discipline it gave me, I would not have achieved qualifications for entry into Glasgow University Law School.

Aged 19, I played for Glasgow U-23 and was in the Scotland U-21 squad. The same year I sustained a catastrophic knee injury. I had several operations but never played again. I was devastated!

My energies were devoted to my studies. I graduated as the best law student of my year and was immediately invited back to teach (part-time) which ultimately lead to becoming Chair of Banking at Glasgow (age 40).

I took up refereeing aged 24 and worked my way through the Scottish league structure. I reached the International Panel (top six exchange) and refereed in England, Europe and USA. My original knee injury returned and I ceased refereeing at 41.

I refereed Wales A -v- England A, numerous U-21 Internationals and the Women’s World Cup. However, my favourite games were top league games in Scotland.

My most difficult games – Agen -v- Grenoble (semi-final French Cup) Cumnock -v- Dalry (always) • Favourite Ground – Jed-Forest • Favourite fixture – West of Scotland -v- Stirling • Favourite player to referee – the late Scott Hastings • Least liked players – Can’t say (but any French scrum half, as usually very difficult)!

My approach to refereeing: I was there to let the game flow and just a privileged spectator. Discipline is so important to the game – be authoritative and consistent. Sense of humour essential and don’t take yourself too seriously.

Post-refereeing: For twenty years I was Chairman of the Discipline regimes for Scottish Rugby,  Six Nations and the European tournaments. I dealt with hundreds of cases, including the sport’s most notorious – Bloodgate. I travelled across the rugby world as a Judicial Officer, officiated at four World Cups and the Rio Olympics. I was awarded the final in three World Cups of which I am very proud. I appear in several players autobiographies – unfavourably!

I ceased these roles in 2019.

My business life:  I am the founding partner and current chairman of one of Scotland’s leading law firms – Harper Macleod LLP. The discipline and leadership as a player, the isolation and determination of being a referee and the skills of a judicial officer, “doing the right thing” as an outcome for the sport have been the grounding for the development of my law firm.

We were the first law firm in Scotland to set-up a Sports Law Unit based upon my various rugby experiences. Our Sports Unit is now the leading practice in Scotland. Association of Harper Macleod as the main sponsors (for ten years) of Glasgow Warriors is rooted in my own journey. Being associated to Glasgow Warriors has been a huge business success and personally very fulfilling.

Conclusion: Rugby has been a key driver and interest in my life. Being chairman of SRU is an enormous privilege and enables me, in a small way, to give back effort and energy to the sport that has been so good to me.

Being a custodian of the game for a short while is underpinned by the hope that generations to follow will enjoy the sport that has given so much to me.

I am privileged to serve as the 131st President of the Scottish Rugby Union having been elected to the role in November 2024.

I am blessed to be part of the game of rugby union. It is for me the game that keeps on giving: the more you put in, the more you get back out.

It is a great game and our domestic rugby community from Shetland to Stranraer inspires kinship, teamwork and a sense of huge civic pride. It opens doors. Anyone and everyone is welcome at a rugby club.

The volunteers who sustain and nurture our club game do a massive service not just to our sport but also to the wider community.

Grassroots rugby in Scotland delivers an annual economic and social benefit of some £160 million. That’s a social return on investment of nearly 8:1. Those aforementioned volunteers would have an equivalent cost of a staggering £31m/annum

Rugby is one of my great passions, I got my first boots in 1969. I played for my club, Haddington in East Lothian, in the front-row from 1970 until my most recent (and final!) appearance in 2020. I first served on the committee there aged 18 and served off and on in many guises including five years as President.

I have also been heavily involved in rugby-related charity work, both at home and overseas and have helped to develop rugby in Rwanda in central Africa, through administration support and funding since 2014. They get our great game “We love rugby, we fight on the field and are friends off it”.

By profession, I am a chartered engineer and a chartered director. I graduated from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. I spent so much of my executive career in railways, building a business and major multi-disciplinary team on the planning and design of some of the world’s largest projects, visiting over thirty countries as a result. I then worked on major change programmes for train operators.

I know I’m biased, but there remains something magical about train trips and, on a professional level, it has been wonderful to see the economic and societal benefits that the restoration of the train link from Edinburgh to Tweedbank has brought to so much of the Scottish Borders, on which I led the technical case through parliament.

Another great passion is corporate governance. I hold a diploma in company direction and have served on the Boards of fourteen companies, chairing three. As well as the SRU Board, I currently sit on the boards of Dublin Bus and Crossrail International, chairing the latter

Away from governance and rugby, I am happily married to Hilary, the love of my life, with two adult daughters. All three are to be highly commended for putting up with my “obsession”.

My association with rugby began in 1996 as a member of Dunfermline Rugby Club. Over the years I was proud to hold several key roles at Mc Kane Park, including secretary from 2008 and Dunfermline’s first female club president from 2015-2017.

Since 2018, I served as the Midlands Representative on the Scottish Rugby Council and Club Rugby Board (CRB) and in August 2021 was appointed as the Council nominated Non-Executive Director on the SRU/SRL Board.

During these years, I was also a member of the Caledonia Region Competitions Committee and the Women’s Competition Committee and served as a Trustee on the Murrayfield Injured Players Foundation, reflecting my commitment to player welfare.

As a past member of the Standing Committee on Governance (SCOG) I was able to contribute to the introduction of new governance structures within the organisation.

All these positions have afforded me a comprehensive understanding of the operational and strategic challenges that clubs, the heartbeat of the game of rugby, face today.

In November 2024, I was honoured to be elected as Scottish Rugby’s Vice President and become the Chair of the Club Rugby Board and a member of the Scottish Rugby Union Board.

What other experiences have shaped me?

I am competitive. I was in the team that won the Scottish Senior Curling Championship in 2011 and went to the World Senior Curling Championships in Minnesota that year to represent Scotland.

My stepson Scott played Scottish age grade rugby as hooker from the age of 16 to 21 years old, while my husband, John, is a published author of rhyming books for children.

I will always be grateful for being part of a team. That has given me the understanding of working together to achieve goals.

Cheryl Black has spent her career in customer focused roles and is a passionate advocate of great customer service as a route to business success. Over the past 30 years she has gained a reputation for delivering this strategy through outstanding people engagement and was previously a Vice President of the Institute of Customer Service.

Building on a career in customer operations, including roles at Scottish Water, NTL, EDF and Orange, Cheryl joined Telefonica O2 UK in 2006 and, as Customer Service Director, was influential in achieving number one industry status for customer satisfaction throughout her tenure. In 2011 Cheryl left O2 to pursue a non-Executive career and has been a Non-Executive Director at Southern Water, Skipton Building Society, Fidelity UK, UNUM UK and NHS 24. Cheryl was also a board advisor at EDF (Nuclear Generation) Ltd and a Trustee of Telefonica UK Pension Trustee Ltd.

Cheryl is currently a Trustee of the Scottish Widows Master Trust and in December 2022 she joined the board of the Scottish Rugby Union as a Custodian Director. Cheryl is also a member of the Management Board of BATs rugby.

Cheryl has been a passionate rugby fan for the last 50 years and many members of her family have played, and continue to play, for clubs in various parts of the UK. Cheryl lives in Edinburgh and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren.

I was proud to serve as the 130th President of Scottish Rugby from 2022 to 2024, bringing my experience and dedication to the sport over many years to that role.

I predominantly played at scrum-half and fly-half for Stewart’s-Melville and Trinity Academicals, positions that always demand tactical awareness and strong leadership on the pitch.

I first refereed a match at Gyle Park in Edinburgh, involving Corstorphine Rugby Club. That was an early step in a lifelong commitment to the game in all its facets.

I first encountered our professional referee, Hollie Davidson, when she was playing for Murrayfield Wanderers. A few years later, during my time as President of Stewart’s-Melville, I was privileged to watch as Hollie refereed our fixture with Falkirk—a traditionally tough and uncompromising encounter. What stood out was not only her command of the game, but the empathy, diplomacy, and clarity with which she communicated with players. It was a performance that left a lasting impression.

Over the years, I have been honoured to see Hollie develop into one of the leading match officials on the world stage and I was delighted when she was awarded her international refereeing cap by Scottish Rugby and subsequently inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame—milestones that reflect both her exceptional ability and her impact on the sport.

In addition to period as President, I represent Scottish Rugby on the board of Celtic Rugby.

Beyond rugby, I am a Fellow of The Chartered Management Institute and work with IFS as their European and Latin America Regional Channel Director, having previously held senior management and executive roles across various companies.

I am married to Christina, and I am the proud father of four children, in addition to now being a grandfather.

Rugby has shaped my life, not because I have played, but because I have been part of its community all of my life.

Some of my earliest memories are of weekends at Stirling County, the smell of Deep Heat will forever take me back there. It was always more than somewhere to watch rugby, it was a community where everyone felt welcome. Even now, I can walk back through those doors at Bridgehaugh and be greeted by familiar faces. That welcome is what rugby has always meant to me.

From my own experience growing up in farming, I value the strong connection between agriculture and rugby, resilience, hard work, loyalty and community. Through both agriculture and rugby, I have built relationships that stretch across Scotland, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to head down a farm drive or stop at a clubhouse in so many parts of the country and feel welcomed.

Years later, it was my children who brought me back to the touchline, first at Kinross, then at Howe of Fife, and now at Dollar, where they both play. Standing on the sidelines again, week in week out is genuinely what makes my weekend.

Through them, my passion has deepened, not just for the game itself, but for what it gives young people. Rugby helps shape character, builds resilience, teaches respect, fosters belonging and creates space for young people to grow in confidence and self-belief.

Not every young person finds it easy to articulate what they need, which is why the environment we create around them matters so much. We have a responsibility to ensure rugby is a place where support is visible, values are lived, and every young person has the opportunity to grow.

For me, rugby has never just been about the scoreboard, it is about people, connection and the lifelong impact of feeling part of something bigger than yourself.

Outside of rugby I have had a varied portfolio career, encompassing several executive and non-executive positions, all driven by my dedication to rural Scotland, agriculture, and economic growth.

I have founded and managed my own businesses in agriculture, manufacturing, and business consulting and took on roles in the past on the Scottish Government Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board and Co-Chair of the National Council of Rural Advisors.

Currently, I serve on the Board of Scotland Food and Drink, the NFU Mutual Scotland Advisory Group and I am hugely proud to be a Custodian Director on the SRU Board.

As a former Scotland rugby international with 49 caps, I have spent my career immersed in high-performance environments—where teamwork, leadership, and accountability aren’t just values, but necessities. Spending 13 years in elite sport taught me the importance of discipline, resilience, and continually striving for growth.

I had the privilege of representing Scotland through age-grade rugby. In those days, primarily as a back-row forward, the position I played during my school rugby at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh.

My rugby education continued as a member of the national sevens squad, before I followed a path which Scotland’s most capped male player, Ross Ford, had taken before me – transitioning from back-row to hooker in the front-row.

I made my debut in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Italy in Turin in 2015 and had the honour of captaining Scotland on eight occasions, including at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed a career in professional sport before embarking on life as a commercial airline pilot. For most of my rugby career, I was driven by the pursuit of excellence, constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my potential.

Longevity in elite sport demands the highest standards every day: in work ethic, preparation, and the ability to perform under pressure. After living those behaviours for 13 years, they’ve now become part of who I am and have made my transition into commercial aviation remarkably smooth.

What others might see as relentless discipline or extreme attention to detail feels entirely normal to me. Rugby taught me what elite preparation really looks like and how valuable it is when under pressure.

Since transitioning out of sport, I’ve carried this mindset into my flight training, skills tests, and interviews and I’m excited to apply those same standards and behaviours in my role as a commercial airline pilot.

I started playing rugby aged six at North Berwick Minis in East Lothian. I am incredibly proud that I went on to represent Scotland 45 times. I made my international debut off the bench in November 2011 against the Netherlands, and, during the course of my international career scored 17 tries, primarily as a winger.

I also has 20 appearances for the 7s squad helping Scotland 7s to qualify and then compete at their first ever Commonwealth Games, in 2022 at Birmingham, having made my final appearance in the XV-a-side team against Wales during the Covid-delayed Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2022.

In September 2023 I achieved another dream of representing the Barbarians Rugby Club in two matches against South Africa and Munster.

I work for the social inclusion charity School of Hard Knocks who use the values of rugby to change lives, often in communities where hardship can feel like a way of life.

School of Hard Knocks is the most graphic demonstration of how sport and our sport of rugby is such a force for good.

In addition, I have studied for a qualification in HR and taken on the role of Director of Women and Girls Rugby at Heriots Rugby Club in Edinburgh. Since retiring from playing rugby, I have also tried a number of sporting challenges and can confidently say marathon running is not for me!

I have a lifelong connection with the club game in Scotland, as a past player, board member and President of Musselburgh Rugby club in East Lothian.

I played initially at full-back and then moved to inside centre to fill a gap in the Musselburgh 1st XV. Thereafter, I alternated between centre, full-back and wing while in my last five-to-six seasons as I like to think I got more powerful (read slower!), I moved into the back row, where I finished my career at Musselburgh.

Rugby provided a welcome release from academic studies and thereafter, professional life in banking and investment management.

It helped keep my feet on the ground and meant I was able to stay connected with my childhood friends and those in my local community.

It also helped me tremendously throughout my working life as I applied rugby values to work situations.

I have enjoyed a long and successful career in finance from early actuarial and investment management experience to investment banking and latterly, management consultancy.

I was proud to be included in the Institutional Investor ‘Hall of Fame’ for financial analysis; an elite club of only 33 individuals across Europe awarded over the last 30 years.

I have proven expertise in engaging with and providing insightful support and guidance to executive management and boards and have developed an extensive network of contacts in the financial, investment and rugby worlds.

At Musselburgh RFC we invested close to half a million pounds in recent years with the support of East Lothian Council, Scottish Rugby, sportscotland and our members and sponsors. We built a new gym facility and upgraded our changing rooms. We also replaced our floodlights with new LED lights. And we have upgraded our car park and surrounds.

Next project is underway to improve our training facilities to cope with increased playing numbers across all aspects of the club. Our mini and youth sections, where we are proud to work with Loretto School, are thriving and we work hard to ensure a smooth progression into adult rugby.

I was elected to the SRU Custodian Board at the November 2025 AGM.