{"id":294293,"date":"2023-10-19T17:55:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T17:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/?p=294293"},"modified":"2023-10-19T17:55:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T17:55:07","slug":"argentina-legend-agustin-pichot-slams-rugbys-closed-shop-mentality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports-life-news.com\/rugby-union\/argentina-legend-agustin-pichot-slams-rugbys-closed-shop-mentality\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina legend Agustin Pichot slams rugby&apos;s &apos;closed shop&apos; mentality"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Argentina legend Agustin Pichot slams &#8216;closed shop&#8217; mentality that is killing the rising nations&#8230; as he warns rugby is at a critical point with England, Australia and South Africa in the red<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Agustin Pichot claims rugby&#8217;s &#8216;closed shop&#8217; mentality is killing the rising nations\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Emerging nations such as Georgia have been locked out of new Nations League<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Portugal could build on World Cup victory over Fiji with meaningful fixtures\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After <span>three years of keeping his counsel, Agustin Pichot is finally ready to break his silence. \u2018Talk soon,\u2019 he says over WhatsApp, before boarding a flight from Buenos Aires to France.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He agrees to meet at his hotel in Marseille\u2019s old port. It is the morning after Argentina\u2019s riotous victory over Wales \u2014 in what has been acclaimed as the greatest rugby weekend of all time \u2014 but the mood is not one of celebration for the former Pumas captain.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was here in 2007,\u2019 he says, stirring a cup of mate \u2014 Argentina\u2019s national drink \u2014 on the terrace overlooking the harbour. \u2018We were in a hotel here and we were third in the world. It is d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, I promise.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It is a loaded comment. Pichot is not referring to the panoramic views of the pretty boats bobb ing in the water. He has decided it is time to expose rugby\u2019s damaging refusal to grow into a global game, having stayed silent since losing out to Sir Bill Beaumont in the World Rugby chairman election in May 2020.<\/p>\n<p>This is a timely intervention, given events at this World Cup. Portugal captivated a global audience with their heroic performances, beating Fiji, and were greeted by thousands of fans on their return to Lisbon.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/20\/76723709-0-image-a-30_1697658757325.jpg\" height=\"398\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Agustin Pichot (above) claims rugby&#8217;s &#8216;closed shop&#8217; mentality is killing the rising nations<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/22\/76728335-12646893-image-a-46_1697665370958.jpg\" height=\"489\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Portugal recorded their first ever Rugby World Cup win over Fiji in dramatic fashion<\/p>\n<p>Uruguay almost upset France. Chile performed with honour after qualifying for the showpiece for the first time. Samoa came agonisingly close to beating England. The mood is that the sport must open up to these emerging countries. But Pichot fears this won\u2019t happen, at a time when plans for the new\u00a0Nations League \u2014 which will ring-fence the top 12 teams for several years \u2014 are being finalised in Paris. No wonder he fears the same old story of self-interest protecting the status quo.<\/p>\n<p>When he wades into the topic, he does so with passion. \u2018It\u2019s not a global game,\u2019 says Pichot. \u2018We can say, \u201cOh, Portugal beat Fiji\u201d but I strongly believe rugby is at a critical point. A lot of unions are trying to keep the old boys\u2019 club.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I tried to come and help but the Six Nations blocked me \u2014 calling every union, especially Alan Gilpin (World Rugby chief executive) and JJ (John Jeffrey, the favourite to replace Beaumont as World Rugby chairman) because they are threatened. Come on guys, it\u2019s not frightening. I love the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Bill came to Argentina last year and I said, \u201cBill, I ran against you because you wanted to go down one path that won\u2019t expand and be global\u201d. You can see it now. Nothing has changed.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Portugal have emerged in France as symbols of upward mobility and the sport could take off there if encouraged, with regular, meaningful fixtures to build on momentum. The team have been feted at home, invited to meet the president and captain Tomas Appleton had a shirt-swapping photo-call with Cristiano Ronaldo. But what of their prospects now?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Call me in June 2026 and ask me about Portugal,\u2019 says Pichot. \u2018It will be a d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu story. You have the Six Nations in one corner and the Rugby Championship in another. It\u2019s self-preservation, survival. The system is done to protect the core. They have to see that bigger is better but they won\u2019t take that risk. But they are already at risk. They are in the red. It has to be a discussion of taking risks for a bigger vision.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>So can he see the powers-that-be coming to their senses and recognising the need for growth? \u2018It will be exactly the same,\u2019 adds Pichot. \u2018This is the rule of insanity \u2014 keep doing the same and getting the same outcome. Tell me what has changed from Japan (2019 World Cup) to now? Fiji is the one-off and I love it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018What is the point of Uruguay arriving in four years if they don\u2019t play one relevant game in that time? In the first week in 2027 they\u2019re going to get smashed. Then they will have a decent game and everyone will say it\u2019s great to see the colours and passion of Uruguay. It\u2019s the same every four years.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/20\/76723711-0-image-a-31_1697658763491.jpg\" height=\"420\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Argentina legend outlines his concerns for rugby over a cup of mate in Marseille<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/22\/76728389-12646893-image-a-47_1697665456327.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Uruguay took on the likes of New Zealand and France in their debut appearance at the World Cup<\/p>\n<p>He uses the example of the South American country but it applies to so many of the so-called Tier 2. When his team\u2019s campaign here ended honourably, Samoa coach Seilala Mapusua said he had no idea when the Pacific islanders would next face leading opposition. Georgia have been banging on the Six Nations door for years, but it remains locked and bolted.<\/p>\n<p>As a true visionary, Pichot is adamant that growth is the answer. \u2018Where are the numbers?\u2019 he asks. Are you going to get more numbers in New Zealand? In Scotland? In Wales? No. But would you get more people in Paraguay, in Brazil? I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s easy, but it\u2019s a vision.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Bernard Lapasset, when he was World Rugby chairman, had this vision and that\u2019s why I joined. He asked me to join to counter-act the home unions. I told Bill Beaumont, \u201cI won\u2019t bother you, I want to grow this game and you are a rugby guy so we will do it\u201d. Then he wasn\u2019t allowed, because of the (RFU chief executive) Bill Sweeneys of this world and we went separate ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Bernard had a vision. He asked me to join him to get rugby into the Olympics and I was with him all the way. What relevant thing has happened since 2015? What have we changed since, like Bernard did with the Olympics and with Argentina joining the Rugby Championship?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>During this interview, we are joined by Sebastian Pineyrua, president of South American rugby. He listens to Pichot\u2019s warnings. Meetings are under way between rugby\u2019s power-brokers this week to ratify the Nations League, but the outcome could be divisive and disastrous. For the participating Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams, plus Fiji and Japan, it will be lucrative. But for the rest, stuck on the outside, it won\u2019t be accessible until 2032 at the earliest, if ever.<\/p>\n<p>What was once nicknamed the \u2018Pichot plan\u2019 no longer bears any resemblance to the concept he first proposed. \u2018The game I love has to be much bigger,\u2019 he says. \u2018One idea was the global season, but they twisted it and they made it a closed shop. Again.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/20\/76723911-0-image-a-32_1697659057149.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Portugal could build on their World Cup victory over Fiji with meaningful fixtures<\/p>\n<p>Asked about promotion and relegation, he adds: \u2018Of what? Is the Six Nations going to be touched? No. SANZAAR (Southern Hemisphere unions) talk about expanding, but how do I give Uruguay a pathway to the Rugby Championship in the next 10 years?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Let\u2019s be clear: this spin-off of my idea is not a global game. It is just a closed shop for six years. We will vote against it. But this is the mad thing, even the Georgia guys will vote for it. Rugby Europe will vote for it. But they get nothing! I don\u2019t know why they would vote for it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>At this point, Pineyrua speaks up. The man responsible for overseeing rugby in a whole continent, with so much potential, has a doomsday forecast. \u2018It\u2019s the death of rugby,\u2019 he says of the Nations League concept. \u2018It will kill rugby. It will be impossible to compete with those teams in four or five years. They\u2019re going to go up and the others will go down.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Neither man has been invited to meetings about the planned event which will alter the landscape of the sport. This is no surprise, as they are seen as a threat to the cosy establishment \u2014 certainly Pichot. Vested interests are intent on keeping him in the margins.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They blocked me consistently, all of them,\u2019 he says. \u2018Alan Gilpin, the rest of Six Nations, why do they want to block somebody from joining the EXCO (World Rugby executive committee)? The chairmen and CEOs sit down and say, \u201cDon\u2019t let him in\u201d. They want to lock me up in that lighthouse over there! But I love this game.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s always the same. Yesterday, I saw the English guys on the bus and I said, \u201cI know you don\u2019t like me, but we are here, we are in the top four in the world. We are not going away\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Pichot is adamant he is not contemplating another attempt to become World Rugby chairman, but his friend alongside will try to persuade him. \u2018He\u2019s the only one who can change this,\u2019 says Pineyrua.<\/p>\n<p>When it came to the 2020 vote, officials turned against Pichot, as the then French federation president, Bernard Laporte, engaged in murky political manoeuvring on behalf of Beaumont. The man who was beaten 28-23 wouldn\u2019t operate that way and it cost him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/21\/76724283-0-image-a-34_1697659843186.jpg\" height=\"414\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Emerging nations Georgia, Chile and Samoa have been locked out of the\u00a0new Nations League<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I would never phone Fiji and trade for a vote,\u2019 he says. \u2018I could have won the election, believe me, but I wouldn\u2019t go that extra step, because rugby is a special thing for me. And if I betray that, I lose respect. That is what I have in rugby. I think people respect me.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>What he wants to bring to the table is a mix of passion and pragmatism. Pichot is concerned about rugby\u2019s financial outlook.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m a romantic but I\u2019m not stupid,\u2019 he says. \u2018I am a businessman and I know the P&amp;Ls (profits and losses) are important to sustain the business. Rugby is in the red. Look at Wales, the Premiership. Look anywhere. The problem is that costs are going up but there\u2019s no better income and not a better product to show.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I heard the other day that England is \u00a320m in deficit\u2026 England! South Africa, red. Wales, red. Australia, red. The Premiership, red. Everyone is in survival mode. South Africa doesn\u2019t have money. It is alarming. Rugby has to lower costs to make it sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We are spending more and more and that is not logical. And we are not spending it on Bitcoins or innovation. It is a sport that is growing old, it is not attractive, not innovative. Look at the crowds. What are we giving the kids? How is Twitch happening? TikTok?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The chief executives run the game. The P&amp;Ls don\u2019t work but they carry on, with an EXCO that is useless. We need to help the CEOs, about how to take care of the money. If not, they will pay bonuses to themselves and have a great lifestyle while some rugby clubs are poor. It\u2019s simple. It is not working.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Pichot is not hopeful of the game going through a sudden enlightenment, but won\u2019t stay quiet any longer. He will keep pushing and demanding, while coaching junior rugby in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/21\/76724203-0-image-a-33_1697659715211.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pichot lost out to Sir Bill Beaumont in the World Rugby chairman election in May 2020<\/p>\n<p>He speaks with pride about Argentina\u2019s economic management and how they support their neighbours. It is a collaborative approach which isn\u2019t followed elsewhere. \u2018Argentina\u2019s financials are immaculate,\u2019 he says. \u2018So we can afford to invest. How many of the unions in the north can say they can afford to invest in Georgia, Romania or Spain?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018People say we are stupid, but we believe Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil \u2014 maybe Colombia next \u2014 will grow the continent. It\u2019s a vision. And, by the way, we qualified two teams for the World Cup when USA and Canada didn\u2019t.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>According to Pichot and Pineyrua, the North American countries are largely run by British and Irish officials and are in political league with the home unions. They fear for the World Cup in the USA in 2031 and are convinced that, if progress continues on the same trajectory in South America, there would be better prospects of a successful tournament there.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s another looming problem. Pichot can\u2019t solve them all, but he can\u2019t just sit by and watch the edifice crumble. He wants to drag the sport towards a brighter future, if vested interests don\u2019t keep standing in his way.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12646893\/Argentina-legend-Agustin-Pichot-slams-closed-shop-mentality-killing-rising-nations-warns-rugby-critical-point-England-Australia-South-Africa-red.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina legend Agustin Pichot slams &#8216;closed shop&#8217; mentality that is killing the rising nations&#8230; as he warns rugby is at a critical point with England, Australia and South Africa in the red Agustin Pichot claims rugby&#8217;s &#8216;closed shop&#8217; mentality is killing the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Argentina legend Agustin Pichot slams rugby&amp;apos;s &amp;apos;closed shop&amp;apos; 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