Despite the support of the Sanzaar nations, Agustin Pichot lost out by five votes to Bill Beaumont, who was backed by Rugby Africa in his re-election as World Rugby chairman.

READ: Beaumont earns re-election in World Rugby top job

In the hotly contested elections for World Rugby’s top job, Beaumont ultimately won a 28-23 majority among the 51 votes of the World Rugby council and will serve another four years with France’s Bernard Laporte as his vice-chairman.

Rugby Africa and Japan opted to back Beaumont for four more years, while the votes of Fiji and Samoa also proved decisive. The Six Nations votes also went the way of the incumbent.

The announcement of the election outcome was ultimately moved forward from the originally scheduled date of 12 May after Beaumont and Pichot concurred.

Pichot congratulated Beaumont, stating: ‘Not this time, thanks to all for the support, from the bottom of my heart.’

Here’s a breakdown of the voting: