One of the NFL’s all-time greats had his eyes on another sport headed into the weekend.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady posted a video to hype up the Springboks, the South Africa national rugby team, before their first match in the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The 6-time Super Bowl champion will have to be up early to watch on Saturday as South Africa takes on New Zealand at 5:45 a.m. ET.
World Rugby has postponed July test matches involving southern and northern hemisphere nations because of ongoing restrictions on international travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
The sport’s international governing body issued a statement Friday saying the mid-year test window will be rescheduled when cross-border travel and quarantine regulations are relaxed.
New Zealand had been scheduled to play Wales and Scotland, Australia was set to play Ireland and Fiji and South Africa had planned to host Scotland and Georgia. World Rugby said the postponement is due “to ongoing government and health agency COVID-19 directives.”
Former England captain Bill Beaumont has been re-elected as World Rugby chairman on Saturday after beating Agustín Pichot, the current vice-chairman.
The sport’s governing body says the 68-year-old Beaumont achieved a first-round majority of 28 votes to 23.
Beaumont says: “I am honored to accept the mandate of the World Rugby Council to serve as the international federation’s chairman once again.”
He begins his four-year term after a council meeting on May 12.
French rugby federation president Bernard Laporte becomes Beaumont’s new vice-chairman.