‘Biggest day’ of pro era
Agustin Pichot, the man attempting to overthrow Bill Beaumont as World Rugby chairman, believes today’s vote is the sport’s most significant moment since it turned professional 25 years ago.
Pichot is standing against Beaumont, the incumbent with whom he has worked for the past four years, and has urged the 31 World Rugby delegates to recognise the significance of the occasion.
‘‘Rugby was facing a crisis before Covid-19 struck and the pandemic has only served to exacerbate so many of the issues in the game,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph from his home in Buenos Aires.
‘‘We have an opportunity before us, no matter how it has come about. It is time for change. These are grave times for everyone, but a crisis should not be allowed to bring us to our knees. Rather it is an opportunity.
‘‘We have to challenge that crisis, meet the difficulties head on and create a model for the sport that is not only viable for resolving the short-term problems but can provide a sustainable framework for the next 20-30 years.
‘‘Nothing has changed in real terms since the game went professional in the midnineties. The game was pushed into that radical action by the external commercial forces of Kerry Packer and
Rupert Murdoch.
‘‘It was the same with the first World Cup in 1987. The conservative elements did not want another tournament that might take away from the Five Nations Championship. People seem to fear change. But they shouldn’t. Who would argue against a World Cup now?
‘‘We have to seize the moment. We can’t just carry on with what we have been carrying on, doing more or less the same things, only ever being reactive. It is time to be proactive. Of course, there is despair in times of a crisis, but there should also be solidarity and a desire to make things better.’’
Pichot is the outsider to win the vote but the 45-year-old ex-Pumas captain has often thrived on that billing, and vigorous campaigning over the past fortnight has helped close the gap on the establishment figure of Beaumont.
The 33 delegates will cast 51 votes, with the elite tier-one countries, such as the Six Nations and Sanzaar bloc (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina), having three votes each, while the likes of Georgia and the United States have one apiece.
‘‘I am no longer seen as a threat and there is respect,’’ Pichot said. ‘‘I have worked within the system for 10 years. Everything I advocate I do because I believe it will be in the best interests of the sport.’’
Beaumont is also promising a radical agenda, including vowing to improve the global season once a solution can be found to rescheduling the international and domestic campaigns.
‘‘We are facing extremely challenging times, not only from a interests of the game. World Rugby drives the train but the unions are in the carriages and you have to take them with you.’’
He is also determined to trial more law changes to address the alarming increase in the physicality of the sport.
‘‘I am keen to overhaul the governance and I feel very strongly about the shape of the game. I do worry at the top level around the physicality,’’ he said.
‘‘It is easy to forget when you are an administrator right at the top end that 98 per cent of all rugby is played by people who want a bit of fun at the weekend. We should never lose sight of the fact that we should be innovators to make sure laws of the game are right.
‘‘Rugby is my DNA. Every morning I think about how we can improve the game. That is my driver, to make it better for everyone – more people playing, more people watching it and more people enjoying it.’’