MISERY FOR EDDIE
Outspoken Pichot blasts England over Shields and says clubs will kill international game
Rugby Special
FLICKING through a scrapbook in his study in the Buenos Aires suburbs, Agustin Pichot stops on a page featuring a hand-written letter from Diego Maradona.
Scribbled on reporter’s notepaper, it makes a brief mention of the Argentina rugby team and is signed ‘Diego (10)’ at the bottom.
‘You know,’ says Pichot, ‘Diego Maradona is like a God here. If he turned up at my house, there would be 1,000 people outside the gate within three hours.’
Pichot befriended Maradona at a nightclub party in the 1990s. They remain in touch, with the footballing icon recently asking Pichot for a signed Jaguares jersey.
‘He tells me that it’s very difficult to be Maradona,’ says Pichot. ‘He is a human being who makes mistakes.
‘Maradona represented the good and the bad. He was from a very poor shanty town. He fought against the system and gave joy to all the people who were suffering.
‘Rugby is miles away from that. Football represents the rich, the poor and the middle class. For the next month, you could drop a bomb here in Buenos Aires and nobody would notice.’
Having switched from scrum-half to statesman, Pichot is fighting to break down rugby’s elitist and conservative barriers.
As vice-chairman, he turns up to World Rugby meetings wearing trainers and challenges ideas that go back to the days of amateurism.
So, what can rugby learn from football’s World Cup? His answer takes many a tangent.
‘Walk 10 minutes from my house and you will be in the shanty town. You won’t see polo there because they do not have horses. You won’t see rugby there because they don’t have the posts and the rules are too complicated. Everywhere is football because you just put two cones down and you have a game. Football is the world sport because it is simple. Rugby lacks that so how do we modernise it? Do we keep the contest in the scrum? Do we simplify the laws? Do we try to make the game faster? Less TMO, yes. We need balance.’
He turns to the mechanisms of the international playing calendar.
‘ Football protects the international game. Do we protect the international game? We must. The world stands still for the football World Cup. I want four, six, eight more teams at our World Cup. ‘What is rugby’s calendar? Why are some Wales players watching Wales play from a sunny holiday resort this month? If every international game is meaningful, why are these guys not playing? June Tests... what are they for? You watched Wales v South Africa? It was c**p. It was just paying bills. We have to look at how our clubs are run before the countries go bankrupt.
‘ We cannot keep running this game like it is 20 years ago.’
Pichot’s playing career overlapped the transition from amateurism to professionalism. Jerseys from his playing days for Bristol, Richmond and Stade Francais fill his study. Two Irish wolfhounds roam the gardens, one of which is called Pancracio — a name which, in Argentina, is associated with deep thinkers.
‘If you have to think twice about your jersey or your national anthem, something is wrong,’ says Pichot, addressing England’s decision to select former All Blacks hopeful Brad Shields against South Africa.
‘You need to have more respect for the shirt. I don’t care about eight years, five years, whatever. Shields has done nothing wrong but if I was a young guy who had come through the system, dreaming of playing for England, I would feel bad. The English system didn’t work. ‘Yes, Shields is eligible to play and he has every right to do so. It’s about the integrity of the national team and the philosophy of what I think is right.’ Pichot believes the Lions should be protected at all costs and even floats the idea of a southern hemisphere Lions team.
‘I love the Lions,’ he says. ‘It’s a great brand for rugby and it needs to be protected. I would love to see a Lions of the SANZAR against the British and Irish Lions but we have a lot of other problems to address before we can do that.
‘We are spending more money than is coming in. Will TV keep paying for double Tests in June and November? Can teams keep filling stadiums? The clubs are jeopardising the international calendar. A lot of unions are nearly bankrupt because of the cost model.
‘Bruce Craig has to think of Bath and that’s fine. Maybe with central contracts, you have more ownership of your national team and national product. The clubs are not making enough money and the union are paying the debts. It’s messy but it’s all part of the evolution.’
As Pichot rounds off his case, he receives a phone call from his boss at World Rugby. ‘Uh oh,’ he says. ‘It’s Bill Beaumont — he must know that I’m talking!’