SA rugby boss Jurie Roux urges world rugby council to do the right thing

05 November 2017 - 18:37 By Craig Ray
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Jurie Roux SARU CEO during the SA Rugby and FlySafair media briefing at O.R. Tambo International Airport on March 29, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jurie Roux SARU CEO during the SA Rugby and FlySafair media briefing at O.R. Tambo International Airport on March 29, 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Image: Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images

SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux has reminded World Rugby Council delegates of their fiduciary responsibilities to vote for Rugby World Cup 2023 hosts according to the outcome of the recommendation of an independent technical committee.

France‚ Ireland and SA have bid for the tournament and a final World Rugby Council vote will take place on November 15 to ratify the hosts.

South Africa received an overall score of 78.97 percent after a lengthy and comprehensive evaluation by the independent technical committee. France were scored 75.88% and Ireland came in with 72.25% on a selection of weighted criteria.

But since the outcome Ireland and France have both publicly questioned the outcome of the evaluation and vowed to fight on.

Roux has urged World Rugby Council members to show integrity and vote in accordance with the technical committee’s recommendations and it appears World Rugby’s hierarchy are demanding the same. The integrity of the entire sport and its bidding process would be called into question if the technical committee’s decision were ignored at a vote.

Roux subtly reminded World Rugby Council 39 delegate that by agreeing to a transparent selection process they had a commitment to vote according to the technical committee’s recommendation.

“We still have a vote to come on the 15th of November different people have different opinions but they have a fiduciary responsibility at that meeting to act accordingly‚” Roux said.

“We hope that sanity will prevail because an independent process is there for a very specific reason – to keep it independent.

“It would now be very difficult for any federation to go against this independent outcome because it would laugh in the face of transparency and process.”

As for the coming 10 days Roux said that little could happen now.

“It’s clear that at this stage there is no lobbying allowed‚” Roux said. “We all submitted our bids and had our opportunity to present them to the World Rugby Council.

“You are allowed to make public statements. You are also allowed to evaluate the report and make statements based on those evaluations.

“We have maintained the moral high ground throughout this process by not going to individual unions but rather presented to councils and through collective bargaining processes where all the other unions were involved.

“For each and every statement other unions are making‚ we could probably deliver a similar statement but we won’t go there. We believe our bid was the best and that belief was vindicated by an independent technical committee.”

World Rugby issued a public reprimand to the Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) on Saturday after its president Bernard Laporte launched a scathing attack on outcomes of a technical committee report that recommended South Africa host Rugby World Cup 2023.

“How come we are less well marked than South Africa on hotels?” Laporte told Reuters. “They’re saying there are not enough hotel rooms in St Etienne. They hosted Euro 2016 matches‚ there are 1‚500 rooms there. It’s nonsense.”

Laporte also questioned the independence of the evaluation panel.

It appears though‚ that he never publicly expressed his concerns about its make up prior to the outcome of the technical committee report.

“World Rugby has implemented a transparent‚ objective‚ professional and robust host selection process‚” a statement from World Rugby read.

“While disappointment and high-emotion following the announcement of a recommendation is understandable‚ such comments are both unfounded and inaccurate.

“The comprehensive technical evaluation has been undertaken by a team of World Rugby and third-party experts‚ independently scrutinised by The Sports Consultancy against agreed scoring criteria. The process has been supported by the host candidates‚ the Rugby World Cup Board and Council throughout.

“We will be raising our concerns on this matter with the Fédération Française de Rugby and look forward to the World Rugby Council appointing the Rugby World Cup 2023 host on 15 November with a clear‚ comprehensive and objective recommendation to consider.”


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