World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont will outline his vision for World Rugby and the future of the sport when he delivers the keynote address at the World Rugby Conference and Exhibition 2016 (ConfEx) in London on 14 November.
The former British and Irish Lions and England captain and former RFU chairman was elected to office in May this year along with Vice-Chairman Agustín Pichot. Since that time Beaumont has been busy positioning the federation so that it is best-placed to steer sustainable participation growth and interest in the sport.
Beaumont said: "These are exciting times for rugby. Set against a backdrop of record participation and fan growth, the sport continues to develop and thrive in existing and emerging nations.
"We have great opportunities and some challenges ahead of us over the next four years as we look to break new markets and it is World Rugby's role to ensure strong, responsible governance and leadership to convert any challenges into opportunities for the benefit of all in the sport.
"I look forward to sharing my vision with the rugby family at ConfEx and discussing matters of common interest with delegates. I am sure that it will be an informative and enlightening event."
Beaumont headlines a stellar line-up of speakers at the third edition of World Rugby ConfEx, which will offer a dynamic platform to discuss, learn and create partnerships that will project rugby's values worldwide.
Under the central theme of The future of rugby, leading figures from the rugby community and wider world of sport will come together to debate a range of subjects from the use of big data in performance management to rugby's position in the evolving entertainment market place, protecting sport from corruption and how rugby can make the most from its return to the Olympic programme at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Speakers include:
Osea Kolinisau – Gold medal-winning Fiji sevens captain and World Rugby Men's Sevens Player of the Year in association with HSBC nominee
Mark Waller – NFL Executive Vice-President of International
Heather Rabbatts – FA Director and Chair of the Inclusion Advisory Board
Nigel Owens – World Rugby Referee Award 2015 winner
Lewis Wiltshire – Senior Director of Media Partnership for Twitter
Supporting World Rugby's mission to reach out to new markets around the globe, the vision of World Rugby ConfEx is to empower the rugby community and build on the sport's unparalleled recent success as the game continues its inspirational journey of development and global growth.
For more information, contact:
Rob Fawdon – VERO Communications
rfawdon@verocom.co.uk
+44 (0)207 812 6589 / +44 (0) 7769 216 649
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