Razor's pursuit of 'hard bastard' Sam Whitelock reveals the ugly truth about the modern All Blacks
Talk of Sam Whitelock returning home tells us a few things. First, we lack genuinely hard men in New Zealand rugby. We have locks,…
Andy Marinos will take over as CEO of the rugby governing body SANZAR from January 1, 2016.
The South African – who is no stranger to the position, having previously served as CEO between 2008-10 – brings a wealth of business and rugby experience to the role, both as an administrator and professional player.
Marinos earned with eight caps for Wales between 2002 and 2003, and had club stints with Natal, Western Province, Newport RFC and Newport Dragons.
The 43-year-old will replace Brendan Morris, who was in the role as a caretaker after the departure of Greg Peters to Argentina.
Peters was the first independent chief executive of SANZAR after the task had been shared on a rotating basis between Australia, New Zealand and South African officials.
It won’t be an easy reintroduction for Marinos, who will be at the coalface of ensuring a smooth transition to the revamped Super Rugby format introducing a new team from South Africa as well as one each from Argentina and Japan for the first time.
“We are about to embark upon an exciting new expansion that will see us deliver the game to more countries, fans and commercial markets than ever before,” Marinos said in a statement.
Marinos was keen to trumpet the success of Southern Hemisphere nations in the Rugby World Cup, with the Wallabies, All Blacks, Pumas and Springboks all making the semi-finals.
“The impressive performance of our four national teams at the recent Rugby World Cup was pleasing but the challenge for us is to not only ensure they remain at the top, but that we keep working to raise the bar even further both in terms of high performance and commercial success.”.
Marinos said he was “incredibly proud” to be given the responsibility of growing the game in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I thank the board for its confidence in me and look forward to commencing with this talented and dedicated team in the new year,” he said.
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