The former Australian international, who became a business leader after his career, won the election of the international federation (World Rugby) this Thursday, with the ambition of making this sport more spectacular and more profitable.
The first president of World Rugby from the Southern Hemisphere since the president was elected in 1996, Brett Robinson is well aware of the current difficulties of rugby union. On the island continent, which is due to host the World Cup in 2027, the practice has largely been supplanted by the XIII, which has impacts both at the level of the clubs, some of which have disappeared, and the national selection, pitifully eliminated from the start. group stage of the World Cup in France last year.
For him, rugby union fails to generate enough income to survive in the face of salary inflation. “The product on the field suits me. For me, it is above all the way it is presented, the way it is sold, the way it is managed commercially (…). At the end of the day, sport these days is an entertainment industry.he explained in the podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, one of the most recognized in the world of ovals.
He assured in the World Rugby press release announcing his victory that he wanted to develop the “culture required to achieve commercial results for a modern global sport”.
Health is his favorite field
Brett Robinson, 54, therefore campaigned both as someone who knows the mysteries of rugby – he has been a member of the World Rugby council for eight years – and as a business leader, which he also is.
Since 2019, he has been president of RetireAustralia, a company specializing in well-being and health for older people in Australia, and has had other experiences, notably as Australian manager of Mondial Assistance, specializing in insurance. and travel assistance.
Health is his preferred field, as he is a knee specialist and has a degree in medicine. His work in raising awareness of concussions at the highest level in rugby is also recognized.
“Four factors are important in presiding. You need someone who has a good rugby culture, who has commercial skills, who is of his time because he is attentive to the fans and the well-being of the players, but also someone who is ready to shake up the organization.he summarizes.
16 caps with Australia
Robinson caught the rugby bug in 1979, when Ireland were touring Australia, and it took him to the highest level, making 16 caps for Australia between 1996 and 1998, without however participate in a World Cup. He also met his French rival for the presidency of World Rugby, Abelatif Benazzi, during a match.
The youngest of his four children, Tom, plays in the Australian under-18 team. If Tom follows in his footsteps and joins the A team, Robinson hopes that at that point the game will be more enjoyable for spectators, thanks to a faster pace.
With New Zealand, the Australian pushed for the experimentation of new rules: reduction of time for entering transformations or before launching lineouts, less use of the scrum and mauls ended from the first stop.
But the rule that caused the most talk was that of the 20-minute red card, allowing the team with a player excluded to replace him after 20 minutes at 14.
The worldwide experimentation of these rules was also on the agenda of the World Rugby meeting in Dublin: some, such as the reduction of time for transformations, touches, scrums will be generalized while others, notably on the mauls, did not reach the required 75% favorable votes.
As for the red card, the decision was… not to take one, the vote being postponed for having “deeper feedback and comprehensive data analysis”according to a World Rugby press release.
