World Rugby chairman suggests the rest of international calendar could be scrapped

World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont suggests that the rest of test calendar this year could be scrapped. Bill Beaumont believes that there is a “distinct possibility” that the international rugby calendar could be scrapped this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Rugby Chairman is exploring a way to return to playing and finishing the 2020 international calendar, with World Rugby having already announced that it was providing an £80 million relief fund to aid national unions through the crisis, but the current global uncertainty led Beaumont to concede it may not be possible to hold any more fixtures this year.

“That is a distinct possibility,” Beaumont told The Times (UK). “The pressures on the unions are getting greater and greater.” With rugby union facing its most testing time, Beaumont believes he is the right man to lead the game out of the crisis.

Beaumont is standing for re-election as chairman of World Rugby but next month's elections will see him go up against vice-chairman Agustin Pichot.

The former Grand Slam-winning England captain's bid for a second four-year term took a hit when former team-mate Sir Clive Woodward backed the ex-Bristol and Argentina skipper.

Woodward's assertion that "rugby would benefit from being viewed through the eyes of leader who is 45, not 68" rankled with Beaumont, who said: "What difference does the age make?

"I played my rugby always as an amateur. Does that mean I don't understand the professional game?

"I am evolution, not revolution. I am bidding to show a lead to colleagues, to take colleagues with me. I intend to be a leader. And I think I have been in the past."