Deborah Griffin first picked up a rugby ball in 1978, along with a group of friends at University College London, who had challenged their rivals at King’s to a match.

Five years later, she became a founding member of the Women’s Rugby Football Union (WRFU) and it was through her involvement with the amateur organisation that she became the chair of the inaugural women’s Rugby World Cup organising committee.

In January 1990, Griffin laid out her plans for the tournament that would become the women’s Rugby World Cup and her peers were so impressed that they asked her to chair its organising committee.

She was joined by three Richmond team-mates, Alice D. Cooper, Sue Dorrington and Mary Forsyth, who helped in the search for a host city, match venues, accommodation and funding. 

The four women encountered challenges at almost every step of the way – while Griffin and Forsyth both became mothers for the first time – but on 5 April, 1991 12 national teams gathered in Cardiff to attend the opening ceremony. The following day the opening matches were held at grounds across South Wales.

Culminating with a final, in which the USA beat England, at Cardiff Arms Park on 14 April, the inaugural tournament was considered a success by players, supporters and media but Griffin spent the following months trying to balance the accounts.

Griffin stepped away from rugby administration in the aftermath of the tournament but returned in 2002 and became the RFUW chair in 2005, fulfilling the role for the next seven years. In 2010, the same year she helped organise RWC 2010 in England, Griffin earned a seat on the RFU Council and was an RFU Board Member from 2014-20. 

In 2018, she created history when she became one of the first female representatives on World Rugby’s Council.