As rugby clubs struggle to keep their heads above water, Abdelatif Benazzi – the Frenchman challenging former Wallaby Brett Robinson to become the boss of World Rugby – says the game faces an existential crisis if it fails to find new markets and bring more cash into the game.
“We are not soccer,” Benazzi tells the UK Daily Mail as part of a PR blitz ahead of next month’s World Rugby Council election in Dublin.
“We do not have 150 unions; we just have 11 or 12 – and everyone is struggling. They are alone with their problems, but they have given me the opportunity to work on a project to unite everyone. Rugby is in trouble and if we don’t unite, we will die.”
At first glance, Benazzi’s statement would seem hyperbolic given the success of last year’s World Cup, where 1.5 billion people tuned in globally and stadia was packed to the rafters.
Yet, at the same time, clubs are also falling off a cliff globally.
After three clubs went under in the English Premiership in recent years, the Rebels in Australia became the latest high-profile to fall over in late May after financially wracking up almost $23 million in debt.
With Rugby Australia struggling to stay afloat themselves, having taken out a $80 million loan facility, the governing body chose not to keep one of its five franchises.
Elsewhere, private equity hasn’t solved all of New Zealand Rugby’s financial problems either, while the Welsh regions have been struggling for years.
So Benazzi’s not wrong either that certain parts of the global game aren’t thriving.
“The big, traditional nations want to know the strategy to increase money for them, because they have big stress about that,” added Benazzi. “But it is not only this. We also talk about the health and safety of players, and the majority of the nations and regions support me to look for new governance.”
Benazzi, the former French captain who won 78 caps for his adopted nation, represents a move away from tradition.
Born in Morocco, he only took up the sport at 14 when a teacher, noticing his size and weight didn’t suit football or athletics, suggested it to him.
“I told the teacher I didn’t know the rules,” Benazzi told the BBC.
“He said, ‘It doesn’t matter with your physicality, get the ball and go straight’. I have kept this advice my whole life!”
Now, the 56-year-old is attempting to move rugby away from its establishment.
The last change agent, Agustin Pichot, lost out at the World Rugby Council when he represented modernity against incumbent Sir Bill Beaumont. The former England lock won handsomely at the ballot, leaving the former Argentine halfback – and his nation – on the outer.
Benazzi, too, is painting himself as a necessary change agent, someone who will look to grow the whole rather than the traditional tier-one nations commonly represented in the Six Nations and Rugby Championship.
“Until now, everyone fights alone for broadcast rights and sponsorship,” he told the Daily Mail.
“But that is the old model and it is time to move on. It is not a revolution, but we need a new strategy, with one voice.”
Although he wants the rugby world to work together for the greater good, he says rugby hasn’t been ambitious enough to move beyond its Anglo-Saxon roots.
“I don’t want this to be a conservative sport that only comes to English-speaking (countries),” he said.
“That is why my manifesto has been translated into six different languages; Japanese, Arabic, everything. We need that.
“Now, the (rugby) world is still small. We have a protectionist instinct. It is Anglo-Saxon. Conservative. Modestly, I think I can represent a different future. The sport gave me the dream to study in France, then to play for Agen, to play for France, to play for Saracens, to experience so much.
“I feel rugby can be like that and it can develop. I have that in my heart because I’ve lived it. A lot of federations have encouraged me to do this. They said, ‘Maybe you look like an ambassador for these new ideas’.”
Benazzi, like so many who witnessed the flair and colour represented on and off the field from Portugal and Chile at last year’s World Cup in his backyard, sees growth away from the game’s major players.
Other European nations like Spain and Germany have shown their desire to grow on the field in the Sevens format, while Georgia have been knocking on the closed-off Six Nations for years.
“Countries like Spain and Georgia have big frustration,” Benazzi says.
“They say that they have made a lot of effort but feel like we don’t accept them. So how can we do that?
“Some big, historic countries don’t want this. Maybe they are afraid that they will lose their position if some new nations are coming. But now is the time to change that mentality. If we invest in these nations for five or six years, we would have more worldwide competition and more sponsors.”
He adds: “It is very interesting to listen to the Spanish. They talk about the future and they want to be involved. They even want to host the World Cup. That’s very good. It is positive.”
After former Scottish star John Jeffrey surprisingly lost the support of his home nation, Benazzi’s main challenger is Robinson.
The former Wallaby is also painting himself as a figure who can help steer rugby through a precarious time, leaning on Australia’s tough experiences over the past decade as one the global game must heed and learn from.
It’s not the first time the pair have met, having clashed twice in the heat of battle in 1997 in Australia two years after playing for Warringah Rats in the Shute Shield alongside Gregor Townsend.
“I can’t remember if I smashed him with a big tackle,” quipped Benazzi in an interview with the BBC.
“Now it is another game between me and him. It is interesting but I will do my best.”
There won’t be any thunderous tackles like almost three decades ago but the stakes are certainly higher than the two Tests they met in.
The former international forwards will scramble over the next month to try and sway the Council with their message ahead of the November 14 vote in Dublin.
Given what’s at stake, it’s bound to get dirty too.
“We agree on some decisions, but not on strategy for World Rugby. If England support Australia – Brett Robinson – for the election, I don’t know why. Which connection do they have? Is it just historic or about the Commonwealth? Or maybe because Jonathan Webb (RFU council member) is looking at being the next chairman?” Benazzi told the Daily Mail.
“It is normal, it is politics. But I am afraid about it, if a country like that don’t want to open the doors and give an opportunity for the other regions.”
The election is based on a voting system heavily weighted in favour of the establishment.
Each of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship countries have three votes, meaning they control 30 of the 53 votes. The rest of the World Rugby Council combined – all the other unions and regions – wield a collective tally of just 23 votes.
In a risky play that the establishment will likely not view favourably, Benazzi has already promised to change the voting system.
“If I have the chance to be the chairman, my first action would be to have a governance audit, to find out how we can give more opportunities to new countries like Spain, to have a voice,” he said.
“I want to listen to everyone and respect everyone; in South America, in Asia. They have to be involved.”
At the end of the day though, it’s likely that the promise of greater prosperity and financial stability and growth will win out.
It’s something the former Les Bleus lock, who scored during their World Cup final loss to the Wallabies in 1999, is acutely aware of.
“If the big unions feel comfortable with their budgets, maybe they can help other countries,” he said.
“Every sponsor will believe in the projects if they see that big nations are ambitious for something to grow; for humanity – for the youngsters. If we want development, first we have to make sure that the big nations have a comfortable situation, so they’re not losing money.”
Benazzi is open to an injection of money from Qatar and also supports the mooted Nations Championship and upcoming World Cups, including the first in the United States in 2031.
“We have to focus on a territory where we can grow money,” he said. “America – maybe we can do it with the TV rights. Maybe. But we have to look at the dates. That is very important to the unions.
“We have to keep the World Cup in September and October – not move it to June and July. America has asked us about that because they have other games (NFL). But it is a good opportunity there. Maybe they give us more sponsorship and more people who want to invest in rugby.”
For now, it’s a battle of selection. It shapes as their biggest test.
