Rugby: level two nations will decide the vote of the World Rugby president

The irony of voting to determine the next World Rugby president is that the often maligned tier two nations maintain the balance of power to shape the future of the game.

The April 26 vote, to be held by email, to reinstate former England captain Bill Beaumont or anoint the Argentine midfielder-turned-passionate manager Agustin Pichot’s new vision for the global game – is preparing for another northern showdown. versus south.

The Sanzaar collective (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina) is expected to support Pichot’s drive for change.

Meanwhile, unions in the Six Nations align with Beaumont’s status quo.

Such a familiar and tense script leaves smaller nations in control of the fate of the next world president.

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As politicking increases behind the scenes, the Herald It has obtained a document circulating among the nations of the south that, although unilateral, tries to expose Beaumont’s unfulfilled promises in the last four years.

Titled “Done by Checking Bill’s Promises,” the document outlines five key points, starting with failure to deliver a global season.

In 2016, when he was elected president, Beaumont pledged to tackle the world season, review the expansion to the likes of a world club championship, and analyze the advancement of the Six Nations later in the season.

Neither of which occurred.

Four years later, after a failed attempt to get the Nations Championship concept off the ground, Beaumont again promises to deliver an aligned global calendar.

The document says: “There have been no significant changes in tournament dates in the past four years. The result of this means that the same problems that developing nations wanted to address in 2016 still exist in 2020.”

The second point of contention in the document is called “equity”.

In 2016, Beaumont said that at the end of his term, more tier two nations would play against the established elite. However, Georgia remains indefinitely frozen from the Six Nations, while other tier two nations frequently lament its lack of progress and front-line influence.

Next on the agenda is finance.

Four years ago, Beaumont said he would ensure that World Rugby has a strong business structure that maximizes the potential value of rugby. Instead, the document states that rugby’s financial situation is worse now than in 2016.

Pichot has called for a decade-long financial plan to compensate for the losses rugby often incurs, as the Covid-19 crisis increases the lack of financial stability across the board. This is particularly evident as Rugby Australia desperately tries to avoid financial ruin.

But it is also true of the old unequal income distribution agreements between north and south.

Other issues raised in the document include continuing concerns about player well-being and game integrity when it comes to addressing drug use to improve performance.

Based on the fact that each nation has three disproportionate votes each, the majority assume that Sanzaar and the Six Nations will determine the next president.

New Zealand’s three votes will be cast by Chief Executive Mark Robinson, former All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson and recent Melbourne Storm President Bart Campbell, nominating NZ Rugby to join the World Rugby Executive Committee.

However, the reality is that those at the shallow end of the voting spectrum suddenly take on great importance.

At this point, eight days after the vote, the Herald He learned that 11 out of 50 votes, not counting Beaumont, who has a case opinion, remains undecided.

These include North America, the bankrupt United States, Fiji, Samoa, Oceania, Japan, Romania, and Georgia.

Everyone will be very influential in determining the end result.

Other voting blocks like Rugby Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, all of which get two votes, are equally critical.

Sources in the north indicate that Beaumont is confident of victory. This may be based on the premise that its current vice president, French rugby president Bernard Laporte, appears to have reached an agreement with the countries with a swing vote.

France, for example, supported Fiji’s nomination for the World Rugby executive committee, Francis Kean, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after killing a man in 2006.

France also seconded Africa’s nomination to the same committee, Khaled Babbou.

On the other side of the fence, Argentina withdrew its launch to organize the 2027 World Cup, leaving Australia as the only candidate at this stage. Argentina also supported Australia’s nomination for the World Rugby executive committee, Brett Robinson.

From Sanzaar’s perspective, Pichot is viewed as an energized, intergenerational figure who will finally shake up the gin and tonic brigade and achieve the global progress long hoped for.

However, if you get the chance, you depend on many smaller rugby nations that are often overlooked.