- Trump names vaccine skeptic RFK to head health dept
- Lebanon economic losses top $5 billion in year of clashes: World Bank
- Sinner cruises past Medvedev to complete perfect ATP Finals group stage
- Nicaragua's Ortega banishes leading Catholic bishop
- Rugby needs Wallaby 'superstar' Suaalii says Wales coach Gatland
- Unbeaten Chiefs visit Buffalo in NFL rivalry showdown
- Biden administration touts record drop in overdose deaths
- 'Proud' new World Rugby chief Robinson vows to unify the sport
- Fed Chair calls US the best-performing major economy in the world
- England boss fears new directive risks rugby turning into Aussie rules
- Brother of late Harrods owner also accused of sexual violence: BBC
- England captain Kane axed for Greece clash after blast at absentee stars
- French Senate rejects bill to ban under-16s from attending bullfights
- Borthwick adamant England focus still sharp as Springboks await
- New York to revive driver congestion charge plan, drawing Trump ire
- Martin calls on rival Bagnaia for advice ahead of MotoGP title showdown
- Philadelphia completes lineup for Johnson's Grand Slam meets
- 'Harness the now': British singer Imogen Heap embraces AI
- UN committee says Israel warfare in Gaza 'consistent with genocide'
- Italy wing Capuozzo to miss Georgia game with concussion
- Son hits 50th South Korea goal in World Cup win, Australia-Saudi stalemate
- Japan into BJK Cup quarter-finals for first time in 11 years
- MLB Rays to play 2025 season at Yankees facility in Tampa
- China's Xi arrives in Peru for APEC summit, Biden meeting
- British author says space inspired Booker Prize-winning novel
- Spain's Vanguardia daily to stop posting on 'disinformation network' X
- European watchdog partially approves new Alzheimer's drug
- Monitor says militants among 20 killed in Israel strikes on Syria
- New York to revive driver congestion charge plan
- Brazil probes Supreme Court bomb blasts as 'terrorist act'
- Sotheby's to pay $6.25 mln in tax fraud case
- McIlroy shares Dubai lead with Ballesteros mark in sight
- Lebanon army redeployment in south crucial to war solution: UN peacekeeping chief
- US stocks wobble as traders weigh future Fed cuts
- Trump fills out cabinet as divisive picks shock Washington
- Son hits 50th South Korea goal in win, Australia-Saudi stalemate
- BHP, Vale cleared by Brazil court over 2015 dam disaster
- Satirical US outlet The Onion buys conspiracy site Infowars
- Scotland must emulate Croatia's 'conveyor belt of talent': Clarke
- Legal migration to OECD reaches new record in 2023
- Robinson edges Benazzi to succeed Beaumont as head of World Rugby
- India's capital shuts all primary schools due to smog
- Central bank independence 'fundamental' for good policy: Fed official
- Fritz beats De Minaur to eye ATP Finals last four, Sinner through
- Doris expecting a 'proper test' against Argentina
- Russia's exiled opposition hopes for rebirth with Berlin rally
- EU fines Meta $840 million for 'abusive' Facebook ad practices
- Springboks boss Erasmus expects England to 'play for Borthwick'
- Before Leicester, Ranieri's brush with glory with his beloved Roma
- Stock markets rise as traders weigh future Fed cuts
RBGPF | -1.59% | 59.25 | $ | |
RYCEF | -4.71% | 6.79 | $ | |
SCS | -0.75% | 13.27 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.24% | 24.55 | $ | |
NGG | 0.4% | 62.37 | $ | |
BCC | -1.57% | 140.35 | $ | |
RIO | -0.31% | 60.43 | $ | |
JRI | -0.23% | 13.21 | $ | |
BCE | -1.38% | 26.84 | $ | |
RELX | -0.37% | 45.95 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.02% | 24.725 | $ | |
VOD | -0.81% | 8.68 | $ | |
GSK | -2.09% | 34.39 | $ | |
BTI | 0.2% | 35.49 | $ | |
AZN | -0.38% | 65.04 | $ | |
BP | 1.65% | 29.05 | $ |
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.
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.
J.Horn--BTB