WRU chief executive Roger Lewis © Getty Images

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The Welsh Rugby Union has been voted the top union in world rugby at an inaugural awards ceremony held in London to mark the first global convention for the business of running the game.

The Welsh Rugby Union beat South Africa into second place at the awards held at the Rugby Expo convention where 350 delegates were gathered from around the world.

The winning union was selected by a panel chaired by the former All Black hooker Sean Fitzpatrick and the prize was presented by the ex England lock forward Martin Bayfield in a ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel in Park Lane on Monday.

Rugby Expo is a new convention within which delegates from unions around the world will gather annually to debate the running of the professional game. The prize was launched to deliver an accolade to the rugby union panellists decided ran all aspects of the game better than any other governing body.

WRU Head of Operations, Tim Burton said: "The panelists noted that we have just won a Grand Slam on the pitch and delivered record profits, a record turnover and achieved record growth off the field. There are now more eight, nine and ten year olds playing rugby in Wales than ever before which shows how volunteers who form the backbone of the WRU are delivering the right results for our game.

"At the top end we also run a Millennium Stadium which helps deliver £95million a year into the economy of Cardiff and south east Wales from the events and matches which attract crowds from all over the world to Wales."

The Group Chief Executive of the WRU, Roger Lewis, said: "This is a fitting accolade for all the people who work so hard to make Welsh rugby what it is today. We have excellent professionals at the core of the WRU and an army of wonderful volunteers ensuring the grass roots game thrives in the heart of our communities up and down the nation

"This award has been won by everyone who works so hard to make sure Welsh rugby can compete globally on the field and continue to define us as a nation at all levels."