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Argentina get second place at the table as SANZAAR reveal new appointments
SAANZAR have today announced that current chief operating officer Brendan Morris has been elevated to the CEO role, while Argentina’s Marcelo Rodriguez has taken over as the executive committee’s chairman.
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Morris will replace Andy Marinos, who spent five years in the chief executive officer role but has now been appointed head of Rugby Australia.
Morris has previously held senior positions with the Queensland Reds, the Wallabies and Rugby Australia.
Rodriguez’s appointment, meanwhile, temporarily increases Argentina’s presence on the SANZAAR exco, with the president of the Argentina Rugby Union taking over from New Zealand’s Brent Impey – who is also standing down from the NZR board.
SANZAAR have agreed to rotate the chairman role between the four member unions, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, on a 12-month basis.
Following the first meeting of 2021, new the new chairman said, “I would like to deeply thank the unions of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, our partners in SANZAAR, for this recognition. It highlights that as a group we are committed to working together for the benefit of all our national unions, and in the continued pursuit of the growth of our sport globally.”
“This appointment as SANZAAR Chairman stands as strong recognition of the UAR and Argentine rugby. Indeed, in recent times we have seen Argentina rugby grow stronger and produce some great performances and this appointment is a clear demonstration of the respect and international prestige achieved by Argentinean rugby all over the world.”
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As alluded to by Rodriguez, Argentina have gone from strength to strength since joining The Rugby Championship in 2012, with the Jaguares making the Super Rugby final for the first time in 2019 – just four years into their existence as a team.
Change is in the water, however, with Super Rugby all but buried thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Jaguares will now play in South America’s premier rugby competition – a significant step-down – while all their top players have headed off-shore to play their club rugby.
Despite Super Rugby coming to an end, however, The Rugby Championship will continue to operate with all four SANZAAR unions taking part.
At the smallest sign of trouble, Australia have suspended travellers arriving from New Zealand. How confident are the powers that be that Trans-Tasman Super Rugby will go ahead, given the restrictions? #AllBlacks #Wallabies #SuperRugbyhttps://t.co/WXYdtgljq1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 28, 2021
New CEO, Brendan Morris, highlighted the difficulties that professional rugby faced due to the pandemic but was confident that SANZAAR could emerge in a strong position in the years to come.
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“I am delighted to step into the role of CEO at the organisation and continue to work with the very dedicated and talented people we have in the sport,” he said. “Of course, rugby and sport in general face many challenges due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic. That said I believe SANZAAR is in a strong position to move forward given the work already done to reformat our competitions and to streamline our cross-border operations.”
“The aim now is to consolidate what Super Rugby will look like in the future, continue to work with World Rugby on a global rugby calendar that is fit for purpose in today’s sporting environment and to continue the success of The Rugby Championship that is the flagship of SANZAAR and one of the major drivers to our National Unions’ success at Rugby World Cup.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments