Publications
Partners
Cape Town - World Rugby’s vice-chairperson Agustin Pichot fears for the future of the international game.
Following a meeting in San Francisco in March 2017, World Rugby announced an agreement that set out an international schedule from 2020 to 2032. The governing body said the agreement would put player welfare at the heart of the decision-making process, allow for an uninterrupted Super Rugby season with new July Test window, and aid the development of the club game.
But in an interview English publication The Guardian, the former Argentina scrumhalf revealed that new talks on how to make the Test game more viable will be held in Sydney later this month.
“If you ask me as a businessman, the business side of it is not working” Pichot said.
“If you ask me as the playing side, it’s not working. Is the international game under threat? I think it is. Look at the balance sheets of some nations and you can see exactly where we stand.”
Pichot added that after next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan a blueprint was needed for the next 10 years.
“On a scale of one to 10, I think we’re four out of 10 now (in terms of finding a solution) but before we were not even on the chart. We need to push that needle from four to at least six or seven. I’m not going to be an accomplice to rugby’s ruin.”
The 44-year-old Pichot was elected as World Rugby’s vice-chairperson in October 2015.
The former Los Pumas captain played 71 Tests between 1995 and 2007.
