Who Is Brett Robinson? World Rugby’s New Boss With Issues To Fix
Brett Robinson, an Australian former rugby player, has been elected the new chairman of World Rugby, taking over from Sir Bill Beaumont, who served for eight years. Robinson won the position by just two votes over France’s Abdelatif Benazzi during a World Rugby meeting in Dublin.
Who is Brett Robinson?
Robinson made history as the first person from the southern hemisphere to become World Rugby’s chairman. He is a former Australian flanker who earned 16 caps for the Wallabies in the late 1990s and captained the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby. Unlike many professional players, Robinson balanced his rugby career with academic pursuits, earning a medical degree and later a PhD in clinical orthopaedics from Oxford University.
After retiring from rugby, Robinson held roles as high-performance manager and assistant chair of Rugby Australia. He has also worked in business leadership positions and was supported by England and New Zealand in his bid for the chairmanship.
What Are His Plans For Rugby?
Robinson has outlined five key areas he wants to focus on: financial stability, growing the game, engaging fans, improving player safety, and enhancing the culture within World Rugby. He aims to build on existing initiatives rather than make drastic changes.
One of his main priorities is improving rugby’s financial health by expanding into new markets, including the Middle East, and managing costs. Robinson was involved in the decision to host the 2031 Rugby World Cup in the U.S. and supports the proposed Nations Championship, a new two-tier competition set to launch in 2026, which he believes could increase revenue and global interest in the sport.
Robinson also plans to continue growing the women’s game, seeing it as a key opportunity for the sport’s future. He hopes the 2025 Women’s World Cup in England will be the biggest yet. He emphasized that rugby must grow or risk being overtaken by other professional sports. The projected £530 million surplus from the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia and £700 million from the 2031 tournament in the U.S. can only happen if rugby continues to expand.
Challenges Robinson Faces
Rugby is facing serious financial challenges, with some of the top unions, such as in England and Australia, struggling. Robinson has acknowledged this, calling the financial state of many rugby unions “completely busted.” Several clubs have folded in recent years, and rugby is competing with other sports like the NRL and AFL in Australia.
Robinson is also aware that rugby needs to attract younger audiences, as frequent rule changes and confusing aspects of the game have made it harder to keep new fans engaged. In England, rugby faces strong competition from football, and the Premiership is struggling to bring in fresh supporters.
Meanwhile, World Rugby is trying to speed up the game, with new initiatives like shot clocks for scrums and lineouts, and a trial of 20-minute red cards, but more needs to be done to make rugby more exciting and accessible worldwide.
