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Agustín Pichot has returned to the World Rugby Council. The former captain of Los Pumas and Vice Chairman of World Rugby now has a seat as one of the three Argentine representatives.
Pichot joins Sol Iglesias and UAR President Gabriel Travaglini as the three Argentines with votes on the World Rugby Council. Iglesias has been on the council since 2019 and Travaglini since 2022.
The return of Pichot comes at a notable time. Under Beaumont, World Rugby has doubled down on stalling progress. The Men’s Rugby World Cup has not been expanded from 20 to 24 teams. RWC 2003 and 2007 hosts France and Australia are back hosting the 2027 and 2023 tournaments. Player eligibility tightening has been loosened with Beaumont’s actions enabling RWC 1999 eligibility cheaters Scotland and Wales to actively approach and select players capped by Australia and England.
Beaumont is from England. His Vice Chairman, John Jeffrey is from Scotland. World Rugby’s CEO, Alan Gilpin is from England. World Rugby’s headquarters are in Ireland.
World Rugby’s referee appointments for Rugby World Cup 2023 are also British-Centric. No official from the Americas was selected. Four of the twelve referees are from England. No Americas official has been appointed to referee a Tier 1 match during Beaumont’s years in charge of World Rugby.
Wayne Barnes is one of the four English referees appointed for the World Cup. It will be his 5th Rugby World Cup. No Americas official has refereed a match in any other these tournaments. Pichot retweeted Barnes’ World Cup comment and tied it into the Global Game.
Global game. 👍 https://t.co/XuanGskAxg
— Agustín Pichot (@AP9_) May 10, 2023
