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Some are calling for Augustin Pichot to resign over controversial tweet

By Online Editors
Augustin Pichot (Getty Images)

World Rugby’s vice-chairman Augustin Pichot has drawn enormous criticism online for publishing the percentage of players in Tier 1 nations born outside of the countries they represent.

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The tweet has sparked outrage online, with many suggesting the figures are misleading, and some have even gone as far as call for his resignation from World Rugby.

Pichot had been a strong advocate for extending the three-year residency rule out to five, and has championed the causes of Tier 2 nations since taking office.

The list had been doing the rounds on the internet after a rugby youtuber posted a video on the topic, and Pichot took to Twitter to post them to his many followers. At the top of the list, the figures claim 46.3 per cent of Scottish players were born outside of Scotland.

Meanwhile, zero per cent of either Argentina or South Africa are born outside the country.

The former Puma’s scrumhalf has drawn huge fire from it. Here’s a taste.

Pichot has not been afraid to shake things up or speak his mind as vice-president.

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Last month he said he would not be party to rugby’s ‘ruin’.

“If you ask me as the playing side, it’s not working. Is the international game under threat? I think it is. Look at the balance sheets of some nations and you can see exactly where we stand,” the Argentinian told the Guardian. “By the 2019 World Cup we need to have a blueprint for the next 10 years.

“On a scale of one to 10, I think we’re four out of 10 now [in terms of finding a solution] but before we were not even on the chart. We need to push that needle from four to at least six or seven. I’m not going to be an accomplice to rugby’s ruin.”

Pichot is also behind the new ‘League of Nations’ format involving the top 12 teams in the world in place of the current November tours.

The brainchild of Pichot will reportedly come to fruition in 2020 and will see an international competition that divides the 12 teams into four groups of three, with three pool games followed by a semi-final and final.

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The new World League would reportedly be played alternately in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere each November.

Pichot proposed the idea in July at San Francisco’s Rugby Sevens World Cup. Pichot presented the idea in a meeting New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew, French Rugby President Bernard Laporte and South Africa Rugby Union CEO Jurie Roux.

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Bull Shark 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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