Higginson was an independent director of the RFU board from 2011 to 2016, and Melville was acting chief executive of the RFU until just over a year ago.
This maintains a controversial crossover with the RFU that started in 2018 when Ian Ritchie, the RFU chief executive responsible for the English governing body’s £230m PGA with the Premiership in 2016, jumped ship to become chairman of the Premiership Rugby Board – before handing over to Higginson in 2019.