Vocal Pichot’s braced for battle

GUS Pichot is used to battling the odds and the former Pumas skipper might have a major battle on his hands in the coming months, this time in the corridors of power.

Typhoons permitting, World Rugby’s General Assembly will meet at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel in Tokyo later this month where all the issues of the day will be debated formally in session and informally in the bar.

This column is picking up indications that there might be a move for Scotland World Rugby committee man John Jeffrey ahead of Pichot when a successor to Bill Beaumont as chairman is elected in May. Traditionally the incumbent vice chairman is promoted.

Pichot has been alarming the old establishment with his insistence that so-called Project Players be abolished altogether or at the very least the residential qualification be stretched to seven years.

Ireland and Scotland – who have cynically played the system for all its worth – have been aghast at such a development and England, Wales and France – for all their fine but empty words – still want the option of using their financial clout to dip into the market occasionally when the opportunity presents itself.

Things first came to a head in the spring of 2018 when Pichot – although acknowledging that Spain and Romania had been correctly chucked out of the World Cup – also pointed out that the T1 nations abuse the situation on a much more systemic basis with their Project Players and using their cheque books to recruit outstanding U20 players from other nations.

A disillusioned Pichot was persuaded by T2 and T3 nations to stay on and fight from within. He might need all their support again because the voting system is rigged in favour of the Six Nations and the old Tri Nations.