04 BILL BEAUMONT
WORLD RUGBY CHAIRMAN
UP 33
It’s funny to think that Bill Beaumont is still more famous for his presence on A Question of Sport than his rugby, given that it’s two decades since his record 14-year stint on the TV show came to a close.
Big Bill will chuckle at that thought but his elevation to the chairmanship of World Rugby gives him the chance to make a deep-rooted impact on the sport that he graced as a lock for the Lions, England and Lancashire.
On succeeding Bernard Lapasset, he was quick to highlight as his top priority the solving of a challenge that has foiled everyone since the dawn of professionalism: a global season.
Player welfare and education (performance-enhancing drugs, gambling) are also high on his agenda, and the huge resources that World Rugby are putting into concussion prevention will strike a chord with Beaumont, whose career ended abruptly on medical advice at 29 after too many blows to the head.
By then Beaumont had led England to a Grand Slam and become the first Englishman to captain the Lions for 50 years. To his regret, he never captained Fylde, the club he first played for as a full-back for the sixth XV.
If Agustín Pichot, his new sidekick, has youth on his side, the 64-year-old Beaumont has experience. In 1999 he brokered a deal to secure England’s Six Nations return after they had been expelled in a row about TV rights. It’s said he sorted it out over a pie and pint in a Glasgow pub, but Beaumont feels the tale has been embellished.
No matter, such mediation skills will be priceless as he embarks on an initial four-year term at the head of the game.
“HE’S PROBABLY THE BEST COACH EVER IN THE 15-MAN GAME”