Fans rally behind Agustin Pichot as race to become next World Rugby chairman gets underway

Fans have thrown their support behind World Rugby chairman candidate Agustin Pichot as the race to become the next boss of the game's global governing body gets underway.

Online voting between unions around the globe begins today to determine who will lead World Rugby between Pichot, a former Argentina captain and current vice-chairman, and ex-England and British and Irish Lions captain and incumbent boss Bill Beaumont.

Despite his progressive mindset and ambitions to modernise rugby worldwide, Pichot has widely been regarded as the underdog leading into the election as Beaumont plans to retain his spot at the helm of World Rugby.

It has been speculated that the latter's comparatively conservative nature could be enough to win him enough votes to stay in power as the European unions look to retain their influence over the global game.

That may well be a different story if voting was open to the public, however, as fans have flocked to the support of Pichot in an online poll on RugbyPass' social media accounts.

Voting for who they would rather see as World Rugby's next chairman on both Instagram and Facebook, more than 67 percent of participating punters said they would rather see the former 71-test Pumas halfback in charge of the game worldwide.

Pichot has served as Beaumont's vice-chairman for the past four years since the duo were elected into power in 2016.

The 45-year-old has since opted to run against the former 41-test England and Lions lock in the upcoming elections, citing a lack of progress and dissimilar visions for the game.

Pichot has pledged to instate change across the board should he come into power, which could aide the development of tier two nations and see the instalment of a global rugby calendar.

There has even been talk of a new world-class rugby video game being released if Pichot is given the reins, but Beaumont's standing among the powerful European nations could well be enough to see him stay in World Rugby's hot seat.

Although voting for the election takes place this week, the result of the two-horse race won't be announced until May 12.