Brett Robinson Elected as First Southern Hemisphere World Rugby Chair

Brett Robinson’s son, Tom, was a member of an Australian Schoolboys team that defeated their New Zealand counterparts this year. Australian Brett Robinson has made history as the first World Rugby chair from the southern hemisphere, securing the governing body’s top position after a close contest against former France international Abdelatif Benazzi. The former Wallabies flanker, Robinson, won a final-round run-off vote among World Rugby’s Council members with 27 votes against 25. This followed the earlier elimination of Italy’s Andrea Rinaldo from the election. Robinson takes over from Bill Beaumont, a former England captain, who is retiring after completing his eight-year tenure, which is the maximum permissible term. The 54-year-old stated his intention to focus on financial stability and commercial expansion, given that numerous national unions and club competitions are currently facing balance sheet challenges. Robinson declared, “Today, I reiterate my commitment as Chair to harness the abundant passion in our game and to lead for all, by creating the right culture to deliver commercial outcomes for a contemporary global sport.” Since concluding his playing career, Robinson has held various executive positions, with his most recent role being the chief executive of RetireAustralia in his home country. Robinson, a medical doctor, earned 16 caps for the Wallabies and led Oxford University to victory in the 2001 Varsity match. He has also contributed to concussion research at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute. Furthermore, he served as the general manager of Rugby Australia’s high-performance unit from 2002 to 2005 and has been a member of World Rugby’s executive board since 2016. His nomination for the chair position came from his home country, Australia, with a second from England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU), and public endorsement from New Zealand. Before his election, Robinson discussed, in an interview with BBC Sport, the imperative for Test rugby’s leading nations to expand the sport into new markets and to control wage inflation.