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Clive Woodward has issued a 10-point plan to save rugby - report

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Clive Woodward has issued a ten-point plan to save rugby and reinforced the credentials of Agustin Pichot ahead of votes being cast next Sunday in the World Rugby chairman election. The Argentine is viewed as the underdog in a contest against current chairman Bill Beaumont where the result won’t be official known until May 12.

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But the coach who guided England to World Cup glory in 2003 believes Pichot has what it takes to guide rugby into a better, more open-minded future.

Writing in his latest Daily Mail column, Woodward explained what has particularly bugged him in this election contest is how just one of the Six Nations CEOs have allegedly replied to the personal email sent to them by Pichot ahead of the vote. 

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Aghast that every voting member from around the world hasn’t had the inclination to find the opportunity during the coronavirus pandemic stoppage of rugby to hold a video call with Beaumont and Pichot to discuss their respective manifestos, Woodward has called on delegates to open their minds and vote for the good of World Rugby and not just self-interest. 

Among the ten principles outlined were the introduction of promotion and relegation at Test level which Woodward believes is currently killing the game as ambitious countries have nowhere to go to progress under the current structure. “Two global annual tournaments — one in Europe, one in the Pacific — with promotion and relegation would ignite the game and bring full houses for every match,” he reasoned. 

Woodward also voiced his disproval that ten nations — the Six Nations and the four Rugby Championship teams — have three votes each and the other 70-plus rugby nations have 21 between them, that next Sunday vote won’t be openly transparent on who votes for who, that the Pacific Islands have little voice despite providing approximately more than 15 per cent of professional players worldwide, and that the Lions only tour the three big southern hemisphere countries.

He also tackled player eligibility rules, insisting that players should not be allowed to represent two nations and that the current project player allowance – where players can qualify for another nation through residency – must be increased to a minimum seven years.

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R
RedWarriors 1 hour ago
France change two for Ireland but stick with 7-1 bench tactic

Again we beat SA in Durban with an injury ravaged team. Guys like you have been predicting Irelands downfall for years for the same reasons.


Re the draw: NZ and SA were making plenty of noise about the draw until they squeeked through. SA and NZ don’t ‘rise above’ the draw. They BENEFIT from it!!


Should Scotland #5 seed globally but drawn in a Pool with Ireland and South Africa just have ‘risen above it’? Wow, if only your advice had occurred to them.

Should Japan in 2015 have ‘risen above it’ and beaten Scotland when forced to play them 4 days after beating South Africa?


That old chesnut about Ireland playing too many players in 2023. Ireland showed no fatigue in the RWC. We played the backline a lot early for coordination as Sexton back from ban. For professional sports people, you need to look at extreme fatigue to failure at the end of full intensity matches. They are the pertinent minutes. A backline running shapes for 60 mins against Romania is not a recovery issue. Amateur statisticians adding up minutes and jumping to silly conclusions means little.


I saw South Africa struggle badly with fatigue after the Quarter Final. Against Engalnd, in the final, you needed luck. You didn’t rise above it: you got poxed.


(BTW son. YOU haven’t won a World Cup

Also to note: you are jsut adding to the reputation of SA as having the most thin skinned supporters on the planet. A comment about Ireland dominating SA physcially and you can’t accept it. SA are never domianted! (even when they are))

40 Go to comments
P
PR 2 hours ago
France change two for Ireland but stick with 7-1 bench tactic

Oh here we go again - the draw. If Ireland were that good they would rise above the draw. South Africa did. New Zealand did. Ireland, not so much. You seem to think that it matters what happens in the group stages of the WC. The ONLY thing that matters at World Cups is who lifts the cup in the end. That’s it. Do you take any pride in Ireland being ‘the best’ in your group at the World Cup? Does it make up for the hurt of crashing out in the quarters? Do you think it means anything to the All Blacks that they beat the Boks in the pool game in 2019? Of course not. You only care about those things when, like Ireland, you don’t progress past the knock out stages and are looking for silver linings.


Leinster beating an injury-ravaged Stormers means nothing. For starters the best player in the Leinster team was RG Snyman. Also a young Leinster team lost 62-7 to the Bulls a couple of years ago. You don’t know how good youngsters are until they play Test rugby. And that’s the concern for Ireland. They have blooded some youngsters but by-and-large they need to play their best team to get results. We saw it at the World Cup when the game minutes of Ireland players were off the scale.


Meanwhile the Boks had a 85% win record last year chopping and changing using 50 players. This year the wider Bok squad stands at 80. And Rassie will keep experimenting.


As for the Six Nations - I love it. Great comp (even though it only delivered one team in the last four at the last WC). I love the rivalry and the rich history, although winning it is no way near comparable to winning a World Cup. Maybe you need to have won one to understand.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
The revitalised Australians are pushing a Super Rugby revival

I am Delisha, I find my marital affairs in a fluid situation; my husband left me with 2kids I felt like ending it all. I was emotionally down. But all thanks go to Dr herbal. I came across several testimonies about Dr Herbal on guestbook as i was

Where’s Delisha gone?


I think it’s unfair and appalling that the moderators silence Delisha about her “fluid marital situation”!


Fascist censors!


I have decided to come to Rugbypass for all my Herbal and cybersecurity news given the many wonderful posts shared here. And now this!


Delisha, where ever you are, God speed. I hope the fluids in your marriage remain strictly between you and your husband.

49 Go to comments
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