He has been president of the World Rugby federation since 2016.
Councillor Buckley said: “Sir Bill has not only subsequently driven transformational governance reform in support of world rugby, but he has also driven improvements for player welfare and wellbeing.
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“It was a privilege to award him the Freedom of the borough of Fylde in recognition of these great achievements.”
The rarely-granted award originates from the medieval era, when Freemen had commercial privileges and could gain a position of power in their town or city.