Rugby World Cup
New faces on Rugby World Cup board
ESPNscrum Staff
March 1, 2012
ARU boss John O'Neill speaks at the 2012 Super Rugby launch, Doltone House, Sydney, Australia, February 9, 2012
John O'Neill has joined the board of Rugby World Cup Ltd © Getty Images
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The International Rugby Board (IRB) has confirmed new members on the board of Rugby World Cup Ltd, the body responsible for delivering the sport's showpiece event.

John O'Neill, CEO of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chairman David Pickering have stepped in to fill the void left by former IRB boss Syd Millar and Bill Beaumont.

Neither man sought re-appointment, with Beaumont currently in the frame to be named chairman of the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The board will be completed by IRB boss Bernard Lapasset, vice chairman Oregan Hoskins and acting IRB chief executive Robert Brophy.

The new panel will oversee the staging of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England as well as the Women's Rugby World Cup, slated for France in 2014. Their duties also extend to the Rugby World Cup Sevens - Russia, 2013 - and the groundwork for Japan's World Cup bow in 2019.

"I would like to thank Syd Millar and Bill Beaumont for their exceptional contribution to the board and their tireless dedication to strengthening the Rugby World Cup brand, stature, profile and profitability for the benefit of the World Game," Lapasset said.

"Bill, of course, will continue to contribute his considerable expertise and experience to all IRB matters in his capacity as an RFU representative on the IRB Council and as an elected member of the IRB executive committee.

"I would like to welcome David Pickering and John O'Neill to the board as we look to further the profile and stature of all Rugby World Cup properties over the next four years and beyond as we look forward to a first Rugby World Cup in Asia."

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