The South African Rugby Union (SARU) on Monday congratulated Andy Marinos on his appointment as the Chief Executive Officer of SANZAAR (South African New Zealand Australia Argentina Rugby).

Marinos, 43, the GM Commercial Marketing at SARU, will take up his new role from 1 January, 2016.

“I’d like to congratulate Andy on behalf of the South African rugby community,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SARU.

“This is an extremely important position in southern hemisphere rugby and Andy takes to it a wealth of experience – not only as an administrator, but as a former player in the competition.

“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.”

Marinos previously held the position of SANZAR CEO between 2008 and 2010, when the ‘secretariat’ was rotated between the partners, before the establishment of a permanent office.

He has been the GM Commercial Marketing at SARU for the past five years having previously held the roles of acting Managing Director (2008-10), manager of South African National Teams (2005-2010), Springbok manager (2008) and CEO of Newport Gwent Dragons (2004-2005).

Marinos played for the Cell C Sharks and DHL Stormers in Vodacom Super Rugby as well as for Newport RFC and Newport Dragons (1999-2004), from where he won eight Test caps for Wales. He also played rugby league for the Sydney Bulldogs.

"I'm incredibly proud to have been given the responsibility of leading the ongoing growth and prosperity of Southern Hemisphere rugby,” said Marinos.

"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 Rugby 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.

"I thank the Board for its confidence in me and look forward to commencing with this talented and dedicated team in the New Year."

A replacement for Marinos at SARU will be announced in due course.