It was confirmed yesterday that Sir Bill has beaten Agustín Pichot by 28 votes to 23 and the victor thanked Pichot, who had been World Rugby vice-chairman, for his work over the last four years, saying that the election campaign had shown he and Pichot agreed on many issues. 

"Come tomorrow morning it's roll-your-sleeves-up time," Sir Bill said.

One of his biggest tasks will now be dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the sport to almost a complete halt.

World Rugby previously announced a relief fund of $100million (£80 million/€92 million) to assist unions until the sport can resume, with them able to apply for loans, but Sir Bill admitted that this may not been enough.

"In the world of sport there is no magic money tree," Sir Bill added, although he believes the crisis has revealed a "real desire to reunite our game".

One way he wants to do that is through a new competition featuring cross-hemisphere matches, and pledged to use his powers of persuasion to try and get the various international unions to agree to such a competition.

The potential for the contest to feature promotion and relegation and the opportunities non-Tier 1 nations have to play against their Tier 1 counterparts have both proved contentious issues during the election campaign.

"It's only by consensus that I think we will reach solutions," Sir Bill said, also highlighting that the Six Nations and Rugby Championship are not run by World Rugby.

One idea he has proposed is moving two international windows back-to-back.

Rugby sevens made its Olympic debut during Sir Bill's first term as chairman and is an "incredible tool for developing the game" in his eyes.

"I do think it is an incredible vehicle for us to expand our game globally," he said, citing Asia as one area that is "untapped" from a rugby perspective.

An appearance at Rio 2016 was "a massive game-changer" although the sport has to wait a little longer for its next window of Olympic exposure after Tokyo 2020 was postponed by a year.

Sir Bill suggested in his manifesto that he wanted to review eligibility criteria and open up the possibility for players to switch allegiance to another country after they have played international rugby, with the aim being to strengthen emerging nations - especially the Pacific Islands, which suffer from a talent drain.

Player welfare is also another area "close to my heart" where Sir Bill wants to focus.

"I am committed to getting the players involved in any decision we make," the chairman said.

Asked about possible reforms to how World Rugby is run, Sir Bill was keen to point out that "countries can drive change as well", should their proposals recieve a two-thirds majority when put before the World Rugby Council.

The voting structure for the election of World Rugby chairman has also changed since Sir Bill took up the role, he added, citing that unions including Fiji and the United States now had a vote.

Their one vote holds considerably less sway that the three boasted by Tier 1 nations, however, and if just one Tier 1 nation that back Beaumont had voted for Pichot it would be the Argentinian who was now World Rugby chairman.