How a small-town doctor became rugby’s global boss, tasked with the future of the game

World Rugby honcho Brett Robinson senses a seismic shift is approaching the Australian game, despite the looming threats of rival codes and competitions plotting to swipe the nation’s leading talent.

For years, young men from the nation’s elite rugby union schools have been the targeted of NRL and European poaching raids, while the push from the rebel R360 competition has thrown another spanner in the works.

But the former Wallabies forward declared Australian rugby was in “rude health”.

Brett Robinson in Dublin, the home of World Rugby, after being elected as the game’s first chair from the southern hemisphere.Credit: World Rugby

Twice this year the Australian under-18s thwarted New Zealand, while Test coach Joe Schmidt has shown signs the gold jumper were casting aside the ill-fated 2023 World Cup in which they fell in the group stage.

Speaking to this masthead after being unveiled as the University of Queensland’s Alumnus of the Year, Robinson pointed to the code’s international game as being a key drawcard used to retain elite prospects, with the home 2027 World Cup a carrot for Australians to dismiss rival sports.

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The World Rugby chair said while the loss of some players would be inevitable, his home country had rebuilt out of a period of poor results and financial turmoil.

“You’ve only got four domestic clubs, so there’s a limit to who you can contract, but the Australian schools beat New Zealand, so I think they’re clearly hanging onto talent,” Robinson said.

“The global nature of our sport is something those other codes can’t provide. I know Joseph Suaalii has made it really clear that was a major factor in why he loves our game.

“I was fortunate enough to be in Johannesburg when the Wallabies beat the Springboks at Ellis Park for the first time in 63 years. With 25 minutes to go, the 65,000-seat stadium was silenced.

“There are some really good signs about the healthiness of the game, it’s just very difficult in a market that’s saturated to get that cut through. We’ll never be the domestic competition they [NRL and AFL] are, so I think it’s important for rugby to focus on where its competitive strengths are.”

Bush doctor to rugby’s most powerful figure

From humble beginnings in Toowoomba, Robinson set about forging a path to World Rugby’s top job. He completed medicine and surgery studies at the University of Queensland while launching his Wallabies ascent out of Kings College.

A tireless flanker on the rise, he featured in a Downlands College outfit under the tutelage of former England mentor John Elder, which included fellow future Test stars Tim Horan, Jason Little and Garrick Morgan.

Eventually, the group ventured to Brisbane – where he still lives – and joined Souths Rugby Club.

“We were very lucky to have a guy like John who could see potential and make you believe you could achieve anything. We were inspired by him, and then we decided to come to Brisbane together,” Robinson said.

“Sticking with that group meant I was successful. We became a powerhouse of Wallabies, you fed off a culture of the club and that elevated your performance.”

But Robinson felt a compulsion to follow his mother – a nurse – into the medical world, having been encouraged by his father that “an education comes with responsibility to lead and unlock all of life’s opportunities”.

Until the mid-1990s, Robinson balanced life as a student, surgical trainee and elite athlete. Even now, he walks a tightrope managing his World Rugby duties with his role as CEO of RetireAustralia, having developed a “deep connection of wanting to have an impact on people’s lives, and help people”.

Upon his retirement from playing, Robinson continued to stay involved in both sides of his life – gaining his PhD Clinical Orthopaedics at Oxford, and becoming the Wallabies’ high-performance director for the 2003 World Cup.

Brett Robinson in his playing days in 1997; he captained the inaugural Brumbies team.Credit: Andrew Meares

There, he became coach Eddie Jones’ boss as Australia lost to England in the final, having been his captain at the Brumbies.

“That was a significant experience. I was only 30, and you could imagine Eddie … he’s a handful,” Robinson laughed.

“But to this day, we’re good friends and went through a complex and difficult time. It was a difficult time for him and the team, but it was when rugby in Australia was at the top of the tree.”

Women’s revolution and concussion fight

Robinson has focused his early days as World Rugby’s chair on the women’s game and concussion research, with the body investing 50 million pounds over a four-year cycle to both causes.

His vision is to ensure the women’s game now capitalises on the 2025 Women’s World Cup – which drew 10 million television viewers across France and England, 5 million free-to-air viewers in Canada and sold 450,000 tickets.

Women’s rugby in Australia has fallen behind the NRLW and AFLW, with the current Super Rugby competition featuring just a four-round season.

But after Rugby Australia confirmed the Wallaroos would play at least 10 Tests every year until the 2029 World Cup at home, Robinson declared the growth a landmark moment of his short tenure.

“In this country, it’s a bit lost on people the scale of our game globally – this tournament just turbocharged women’s growth,” he said.

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