As predicted on insidethegames yesterday, the Frenchman beat vice-chairman Bill Beaumont, the former England captain, 14-12 after one round of voting by the Council to be given another four-year mandate that will officially begin on January 1, 2012.

The election had been due to have taken place in Auckland ahead of the World Cup final in October, but the meeting broke up in acrimony and was rescheduled for today.

Lapasset then inflicted further humiliation on Beaumont when he used his casting vote to elect South Africa Rugby Union (SARU) chairman Oregan Hoskins as the new vice-chairman.

Hoskins had been tied 13-13 with Beaumont following two rounds of voting.

Beaumont was at least elected as one of the seven representatives to serve on the IRB Executive Committee alongside Japan's Tatsuzo Yabe, Italy's Giancarlo Dondi, Australia's Peter McGrath, Ireland's Peter Boyle, New Zealand's Graham Mourie and America's Bob Latham.

Lapasset's re-election now leaves the way clear for him to be elevated onto the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will be reward for helping get rugby sevens onto the Olympic programme for Rio 2016.

"I am honoured to accept the mandate of the Council to serve as chairman of the International Rugby Board for another term," he said.

"Together we must work to ensure that our sport remains strong for all our Unions and is able to continue its phenomenal growth around the world.

"As vice-chairman Bill has been at the very heart of driving forward the policies that have successfully delivered the foundations for our sport to flourish over the next decade.

"I am committed to building on the good progress to date.

"We have fantastic opportunities to grow the Game, to reach new markets and welcome new members to the rugby family.

"Together we also have to address the issues that face our sport and many other sports, including the delivery of a robust financial model for sustainable growth for our Unions, upholding our values, promoting the best possible welfare for our athletes and maintaining integrity."

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