According to this and other eyewitness reports, the attempt to ‘elect’ a new IRB chairman last month descended into pure farce, with the vote now postponed until December.

The shenanigans were caused because the current chairman, Bernard Lapasset, who had apparently agreed to hand over to Bill Beaumont after one term in office, changed his mind. This infuriated Beaumont to the point that the election meeting descended into a rugby match of its own. The ridiculous behaviour of some of the delegates prompted the highly respected Welsh representative Gerald Davies to call out: “Gentlemen, take a look at yourselves. This is not the way to behave.”