World Rugby chairman election result to be announced on Saturday

The result of the World Rugby chairmanship election between Sir Bill Beaumont and Agustin Pichot is expected to be announced as early as Saturday after a majority was reached.

A total of 51 council members are eligible to vote excluding the chairman with 26 needed for a majority but the independent vote chair PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has informed the World Rugby Council of the required majority attained when the voting closed on Thursday.

The PwC independent vote chair is expected to inform the council about the result by 3pm on Saturday.

Beaumont was appointed the chairman in 2016 when he replaced Bernard Lapasset. He was supported in the election by the Six Nations Unions and Rugby Europe while his counterpart and former Argentina skipper Pichot, who had the backing of SANZAAR countries, South America and Asia.

The result of the voting was originally set to be announced on 12th May but it is understood that the World Rugby Council will name the chairman for the next four years on Saturday with the majority reached.