Saru's Andy Marinos has been appointed as the new CEO of Sanzar.

Marinos is no stranger to the position. He previously served as CEO between 2008 and 2010, and has been Saru's commercial marketing general manager for the past five years.

'I’d like to congratulate Andy on behalf of the South African rugby community,' Saru CEO Jurie Roux commented. 'He has been Saru's “point man” on Sanzar business for a number of years and has worked closely with our partners in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina on the development of the competition over the years.

'He will be sorely missed at Saru but the consolation is that he takes with him a keen understanding of rugby in South Africa, which I’d like to think will have benefits for all the partners.'

In accepting his new position, Marinos said: 'I'm incredibly proud to have been given the responsibility of leading the ongoing growth and prosperity of southern hemisphere rugby.

'We are about to embark upon an exciting new expansion that will see us deliver the game to more countries, fans and commercial markets than ever before. The impressive performance of our four national teams at the recent World Cup was pleasing, but the challenge for us is to not only ensure they remain at the top, but that we keep working to raise the bar even further both in terms of high performance and commercial success.'

Photo: Barry Aldworth/Backpagepix