At a special meeting of the South African Rugby Union's President's Council this week the decision was taken to create a new management committee to run rugby in the country.
Under the policy-making command of the President's Council, the new arrangement will replace the current structure which sees the professional game governed by SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd and the amateur section ruled by SARU.
A Management Committee comprising the President, Deputy President and Vice-President, four independent directors and the CEO of the new unitary structure will run the game's affairs under the direction of the President's Council.
The current board of directors of SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd and the management committee of SARU will in due course cease to exist.
"We had a workshop with union CEO's and Presidents at which several suggestions were made," explained SARU CEO Johan Prinsloo.
"A special President's Council meeting was convened immediately afterwards and this was the structure they accepted."
Rugby administrators will now work with tax authorities and legal advisers to work out the detail of the new structure before a timeline is announced for the establishment of the new structure.