Tom Ilube, who stepped down as RFU chairman on Friday, has been thrown under the bus by his fellow English rugby big wigs.
Chief executive Bill Sweeney is also very much in danger of losing his position at the helm of English rugby.
The furore that has hit the governing body in the wake of the revelation that huge bonuses were paid to Sweeney and his fellow top brass at a time when the RFU were making 40 redundancies and announcing a loss of £37million has been entirely just. But the bonuses are just the tip of the iceberg. The problems at the RFU are so much bigger than just financial.
They aren’t going to change with Ilube gone as chairman and with Sir Bill Beaumont replacing him on an interim basis. Late on Wednesday night, the RFU issued a statement following a council meeting to discuss concerns raised by the controversial bonuses.
They talked of opening an internal inquiry to investigate the ‘reputational damage done to the sport over the past month’ and called for a ‘radical change in the way that the RFU communicates’. Those quotes make it clear the RFU still do not understand the extent of their failures. This is not just about the last month.
The current administration have overseen a deterioration in relationships, performance, financial stability and culture at almost every level of the game going back years. The salary scandal is simply the straw that has broken the camel’s back. The reason the RFU are in such a mess is because that as an organisation they are not open, accountable and, most importantly, transparent.
Tom Ilube (pictured) has stepped down as RFU chairman as problems mount for the governing body
His decision came after chief executive Bill Sweeney (pictured) was paid a hue bonus despite the RFU announcing a loss of £37m
I believe the RFU need to be more transparent and open to get out of their current crisis
The RFU talk a good game on this. But they simply don’t act on those words. If the RFU were open, accountable, and transparent, they wouldn’t be in this position now.
The RFU have become specialists in operating in the shadows and they are doing it again now by opening an investigation that focuses only on a fragment of the problem to protect themselves from real scrutiny.
They are full of faceless, nameless committees who don’t want to have their identities revealed for fear of accountability. It’s pathetic.
Sweeney didn’t write his own pay plan. He didn’t put in his contract that he would be paid £1.1million for the last financial year. The issue here is who did? Was it Ilube? We simply don’t know. This is not about the RFU asking permission to do things. It is the complete opposite. It is about being transparent over who is accountable for key areas and key decisions.
If that was clear and outcomes — both good and bad — were acted on, we would not have the long list of failures we’ve had.
That list includes how the Eddie Jones situation was handled, three Premiership clubs going into administration, the lack of progress in the men’s England side since the 2019 World Cup, a financial loss of £37m and a complete breakdown in relationships with the grassroots and Championship clubs. There are many others, too!
If the RFU really are set on a ‘radical’ change to the way they communicate, they must start by revealing who are on the committees that make all the big decisions. Do they even exist? Or has it simply been Sweeney and Co marking their own homework?
If I was on an RFU committee having my say on the game’s big issues, I would feel a sense of real pride. I would want people to know my expertise is valued and that I have been placed in a position where my opinion matters. If you are one of those people, say so. Show some spine — something English rugby has lacked at the very top for so long.
The RFU did not handle the Eddie Jones situation well before he was finally sacked in 2022
A cloak of invisibility has shrouded Twickenham for too long, and that has to change
My understanding is that the reason those people do not wish to be named is because of a fear of social media abuse. If you’re scared of the keyboard warriors, you shouldn’t be anywhere near a position of responsibility.
The smoke and mirrors is astounding, but nothing new. This whole situation has got badly out of hand. Ilube has paid the price and Sweeney may well follow, although I get the feeling it will only be the former who goes.
Even if the RFU’s leading personnel are different, nothing will change unless the board alter their ways. The last thing English rugby needs is a safe pair of hands. It needs a real agent of change before it is too late. Beaumont stepping in is hardly that. As a long-serving RFU board member and former World Rugby chairman, he is very much one of the RFU’s own.
Total accountability and transparency is the way forward, not the cloak of invisibility which has shrouded Twickenham for way too long.
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The post SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: The spineless RFU are so out of touch – here’s what I would do if I was at the very top of English rugby first appeared on Rugby 247.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2024-12-21 02:51:04
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