Dubai Telegraph - Australian Robinson edges Benazzi to head World Rugby

EUR -
AED 3.849023
AFN 71.377105
ALL 98.713018
AMD 408.027217
ANG 1.888169
AOA 956.757159
ARS 1045.773778
AUD 1.6014
AWG 1.888888
AZN 1.790592
BAM 1.967019
BBD 2.115265
BDT 125.194055
BGN 1.966739
BHD 0.394852
BIF 3094.650597
BMD 1.047927
BND 1.412054
BOB 7.23929
BRL 6.078989
BSD 1.047676
BTN 88.429063
BWP 14.312633
BYN 3.428555
BYR 20539.367995
BZD 2.111745
CAD 1.460103
CDF 3008.598175
CHF 0.933105
CLF 0.03714
CLP 1024.7943
CNY 7.590121
CNH 7.588128
COP 4600.137266
CRC 533.643681
CUC 1.047927
CUP 27.770064
CVE 110.897513
CZK 25.354598
DJF 186.564084
DKK 7.458169
DOP 63.140125
DZD 140.654233
EGP 51.730874
ERN 15.718904
ETB 128.254711
FJD 2.385029
FKP 0.827147
GBP 0.832195
GEL 2.871238
GGP 0.827147
GHS 16.552408
GIP 0.827147
GMD 74.40309
GNF 9030.506244
GTQ 8.087126
GYD 219.180112
HKD 8.156576
HNL 26.475002
HRK 7.475134
HTG 137.524382
HUF 411.442327
IDR 16707.675541
ILS 3.888244
IMP 0.827147
INR 88.48302
IQD 1372.427756
IRR 44091.525793
ISK 146.374379
JEP 0.827147
JMD 166.901939
JOD 0.743084
JPY 161.400652
KES 135.673827
KGS 90.645742
KHR 4218.058045
KMF 495.144769
KPW 943.133847
KRW 1471.823666
KWD 0.322605
KYD 0.87308
KZT 523.103565
LAK 23012.252297
LBP 93817.093604
LKR 304.919132
LRD 189.098539
LSL 18.905328
LTL 3.094256
LVL 0.633881
LYD 5.116181
MAD 10.539412
MDL 19.10899
MGA 4889.889894
MKD 61.882955
MMK 3403.625819
MNT 3560.855681
MOP 8.399809
MRU 41.685758
MUR 49.095582
MVR 16.200603
MWK 1816.66148
MXN 21.338895
MYR 4.68214
MZN 66.973076
NAD 18.905328
NGN 1778.018417
NIO 38.549872
NOK 11.531786
NPR 141.486983
NZD 1.787143
OMR 0.40329
PAB 1.047676
PEN 3.972658
PGK 4.218058
PHP 61.763748
PKR 290.932457
PLN 4.335792
PYG 8178.647597
QAR 3.820792
RON 5.009395
RSD 117.676176
RUB 108.684182
RWF 1430.15702
SAR 3.934367
SBD 8.785353
SCR 14.355505
SDG 630.325516
SEK 11.490398
SGD 1.407224
SHP 0.827147
SLE 23.819044
SLL 21974.508901
SOS 598.71482
SRD 37.195159
STD 21689.971872
SVC 9.167286
SYP 2632.947722
SZL 18.898791
THB 36.095812
TJS 11.157437
TMT 3.667744
TND 3.328384
TOP 2.454353
TRY 36.229795
TTD 7.115584
TWD 34.145125
TZS 2786.794716
UAH 43.342206
UGX 3871.079021
USD 1.047927
UYU 44.554118
UZS 13440.659923
VES 48.790577
VND 26637.254851
VUV 124.411992
WST 2.925383
XAF 659.719767
XAG 0.033387
XAU 0.000385
XCD 2.832075
XDR 0.796945
XOF 659.719767
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.90314
ZAR 18.881343
ZMK 9432.600526
ZMW 28.941068
ZWL 337.432047
  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

Australian Robinson edges Benazzi to head World Rugby
Australian Robinson edges Benazzi to head World Rugby / Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT - AFP

Australian Robinson edges Benazzi to head World Rugby

Australia's Brett Robinson became the first chairman of World Rugby from the southern hemisphere after edging French rival Abdelatif Benazzi in a vote on Thursday.

Text size:

The 54-year-old former Wallabies flanker succeeds England's Bill Beaumont who steps down after eight years.

Robinson obtained 27 votes with Benazzi receiving 25 in the second round of World Rugby Council voting. Italy's Andrea Rinaldo bowed out in the first round with nine votes.

"It is an immense privilege and honour to have been elected World Rugby Chair by my Council colleagues today," said Robinson, who has a four-year term with the option to run for a second.

"During the course of the process, I have had many conversations with my colleagues around the world and am heartened by our shared ambition to continue to build on the strength of our game."

The next men's Rugby World Cup takes place in Australia in 2027 and will be the first to have 24 teams.

Robinson, a doctor specialising in orthopaedics, said he had five main themes which he wanted to deliver on.

These include financial sustainability "across all member unions amid a rising cost base and wage inflation" and "fan and player growth through investment in player safety, law reform and innovation".

"Today, I reiterate my commitment as Chair to do so, to harness the abundant passion in our game and to lead for all," he said.

Robinson has since retiring as a player also enjoyed a spell in business and has said the finances of World Rugby, with so much to be invested in various programmes over the next few years, were "creaking".

With this in mind he has made the biennial Nations Championship a priority to enhance rugby income.

He was bitterly disappointed when the idea was rejected in 2019 but it is slated to have its inaugural outing in 2026.

There will be a northern pool (made up of the Six Nations) and a southern pool, with Japan and Fiji expected to join the four existing Rugby Championship nations —- South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.

There is a second Division of a dozen countries with promotion and relegation as of 2030.

- 'Existential threat' -

Qatar had been keen to host it but they will have to wait although Robinson is keen to bring them in at some stage.

Twickenham, according to Robinson, will host the first Nations Championship final.

"It was one of the most disappointing moments for me that we missed that opportunity (with the Nations Championship)," he told The Times in August.

"There were forces at play that meant at the time it wasn't meant to be.

"The great thing is it has come around again. I don't want to see us miss it again -- because we can't afford to."

Robinson has also been a proponent of speeding up the game, from time limits on setting scrums and line-outs to the controversial 20 minute red card to make it more spectator friendly.

"Contest for possession is still primary to our thinking," he told The Times.

"But we have to be mindful of the existential threat. That means we have to listen and adapt and change.

"That is something we shouldn't be frightened of and something we should embrace."

Player welfare is perhaps to many -- not least to parents debating whether to allow their children to play rugby -- the greatest priority.

The legal case brought by former players against World Rugby, England's Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union is pending.

However, Robinson, who has been a research investigator in a concussion study involving the Queensland Brain Institute, told New Zealand newspaper The Post that World Rugby will invest £40 million ($51 million) in player welfare in the next few years.

That will include paying for instrumented mouthguards in every competition in the world.

O.Mehta--DT