It has taken 124 years but New Zealand Rugby finally has a female board member - former Black Fern Farah Palmer.

LISTEN ABOVE: Former Black Fern Dr Farah Palmer spoke with Mike Hosking

Palmer, who captained the Ferns to three World Cup victories between 1998 and 2006, was the unanimous choice among provincial unions.

Her elevation comes at the end of a turbulent year for Kiwi rugby.

For all the success enjoyed by the All Blacks and the New Zealand sides' dominance of Super Rugby, it was off-field incidents that dominated the headlines and created the perception of a game suffering from a misogynistic culture that lacked respect for women.

Between July and October, there were incidents involving players at various levels of the game - most notably the Chiefs' end-of-season celebration, which triggered a inquiry after a stripper claimed she was abused at the event.

Such adverse publicity highlighted the lack of diversity in the governance at all levels of the game and ramped up NZ Rugby chairman Brent Impey's desire to bring a woman on to the previously all-male board.

Palmer takes over from the long-serving Wayne Peters, who retired this week after a bout of ill health.

"My hand has been itching to go up for a while but it hasn't because of where I was at in my life with my young family and also because I thought, if it was going to be a woman, there are lots of other women out there who have the potential to be great board members," Palmer said yesterday after attending her first board meeting. "I do see this as opening the door to encourage other women to put themselves forward for board positions at provincial and Super Rugby level.

"I wouldn't like to think that I will be the one and only representative of diversity on the board."

Recognised as one of the greatest Black Ferns of all time and one of the best women players in history, Palmer not only has a rich playing pedigree, she has also completed extensive rugby, business and leadership research in her capacity as a lecturer at Massey University.

Those qualities, combined with her passion for Maori rugby, particularly at the grassroots level, made her the standout candidate. "When the Maori seat became available because of Wayne's retirement that's when I did think that I could fulfil this role and be a good representative for Maori rugby, which is front and centre of my mind. I was also aware of the stakeholder feel that it was time to have a woman on the board.

"I am used to working in a male-dominated area in rugby. It is normal for me to be a minority but I would like to see more diversity. I think it is wonderful to see that New Zealand Rugby has acknowledged that it's more than time to do this. A lot of women around New Zealand and globally will be celebrating this."

Palmer says her longer-term goals are to encourage greater diversity in the governance of provincial rugby and to improve the overall health of Maori rugby, including the exploration of commercial and sponsorship opportunities.

- NZ Herald