World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont feels it’s a “distinct possibility” the Test rugby calendar could be scrapped this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Beaumont is chairman of World Rugby, which on Thursday announced it was providing an £80 million relief fund to aid national unions through the crisis.
🗣️ “That is a distinct possibility. The pressures on the unions are getting greater and greater.”
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) April 17, 2020
🏉 Sir Bill Beaumont warns Tests could be scrapped in 2020. 👉 https://t.co/c0mGPFonOW pic.twitter.com/oXnmSWMqxc
“That is a distinct possibility,” Beaumont told The Times. “The pressures on the unions are getting greater and greater.”
Beaumont is standing for re-election as chairman of World Rugby but next month’s elections will see him go up against vice-chairman Agustin Pichot.
Sir Clice Woodward’s assertion that “rugby would benefit from being viewed through the eyes of leader who is 45, not 68” rankled with Beaumont, who said: “What difference does the age make?”
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“I played my rugby always as an amateur. Does that mean that I don’t understand the professional game?”
When asked whether he needed to move faster to make changes, he said his preferred method was incremental change.
“I am evolution, not revolution,” he said. “I am bidding to show a lead to colleagues, to take colleagues with me. I intend to be a leader. And I think I have been in the past.”
Back in 2015, these five England youngsters were tipped for stardom
Back in 2015, Wales Online released a list of 25 potential stars of the future who could become household names.
Five England youngsters made the cut, but they’ve had mixed fortunes to say the least in the five years that have followed.
Here’s what they’re up to now…
1. Charlie Ewels
What they said: The Bath second-row captained England to Six Nations success after being part of the World Cup winning side from last year in New Zealand.
Where they are now: A senior-call up was not far behind with Ewels showing his world-class pedigree in the Bath Rugby ranks. The second rower made his bow off the replacement bench during England’s 58-15 victory over Fiji in 2016. Still with Bath, the 24-year-old has struggled to break into the England side on a regular basis due to the consistency of Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes, but has accumulated 12 caps.