South African Andy Marinos has been appointed chief executive of SANZAR, the southern hemisphere rugby body said Monday, replacing Greg Peters who is now with the Argentina Rugby Union.
The 43-year-old, who previously served as SANZAR chief between 2008-10, will rejoin the organisation on January 1 from the South African Rugby Union where he was running commercial and marketing operations.
Marinos replaces New Zealander Peters, who quit his post in July to oversee Argentina’s introduction into an expanded Super Rugby competition next year, leaving SANZAR to search for his replacement.
The former Welsh international will oversee the introduction of the ambitious new Super Rugby format, which includes new teams from Japan as well as Argentina.
“We are about to embark upon an exciting new expansion (in Super Rugby) that will see us deliver the game to more countries, fans and commercial markets than ever before,” Marinos said.
“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,” he added.
SANZAR is a joint venture between the rugby unions of Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. – Agence France-Presse
