The tough questions RFU chief Bill Sweeney must answer over Eddie Jones
Alex Lowe
Rugby Correspondent
Wednesday March 23 2022, 12.01am, The Times
A widely respected rugby administrator said earlier this year that one of the sport’s biggest failings is that no one explains anything properly to the public. The reasons behind a decision or strategy are never addressed. No one talks about the “why”.
That came to mind on Sunday when the RFU chose to back Eddie Jones, hours after England had finished a second successive Six Nations campaign with only two wins. That was absolutely their prerogative — and arguably the practical decision in the circumstances — but Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, refused to say why.
The RFU’s talk of “strong, positive steps” was lampooned. Worse than that for Sweeney, it was called dishonest, with the RFU accused of lying to fans who know what they have seen.
This should be a wake-up call to the RFU to abandon its attitude of secrecy, symbolised by the anonymous review panel, and seek to engage once again with the rugby public.
Bring them on the journey with more effort than some Instagram videos and TikTok posts. Engage the kids, for sure, but do not forget who is being asked to pay up to £200 for a ticket, generating revenues upon which the union’s whole financial model is built.
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Give people the why. Recognise that the media is there to provide scrutiny but also wants to tell positive, constructive stories about a sport we love.
Sweeney has not held a chief executive’s press conference to share any information or insight for a year. He will speak tomorrow — day 366 — and there are some fundamental questions needing to be addressed.
England scored only three tries against the competitive sides during the Six Nations despite promises of a dynamic new attack
Does Eddie Jones run the RFU?
Last year Sweeney said: “I know some people feel that is the perception, but he doesn’t have power and influence within Twickenham.”
Except Sir Clive Woodward’s column in The Daily Mail yesterday painted a very different picture. Woodward told a story of a private meeting with Sweeney after the 2019 World Cup, in which he shared honest feedback and opinions — only to receive a “foul-mouthed” message within an hour from Jones.
Also, Jones wrote in his book that he will not be held to account by executives who have not coached at the highest level. It would appear that Neil Craig, the head of performance and a former Australian rules coach, is the only person with the licence to challenge or criticise.
Why back Jones?
This will be about “New England”. The vision is to build a fluid attacking system with young players who bring pace, instinct and creativity. The result was three tries in four games against Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. England’s kick-return metres are improved, apparently, but the attack looked confused and lacked penetration. Joe Marchant, Ellis Genge and Freddie Steward did step on in the Six Nations.
Does the RFU believe the World Cup is all that matters?
This has been one of the takeaways from the Six Nations. It raises further questions about why supporters would pay huge ticket prices for matches at Twickenham if everything is about building for the World Cup. And it is a high-risk strategy to pin everything on a knock-out tournament. Tom Ilube, the RFU chairman, said England should always be ranked in the world’s top two. They have slipped to fifth.
Sweeney, right, also defended Jones after England’s fifth-place finish last year
Does the RFU agree with Jones that a high turnover of coaches is positive and constructive?
England have had to pay off a lot of people, leaving Jones to bed in a new management team midway through the World Cup cycle. It worked in 2018, when Scott Wisemantel and John Mitchell joined. The jury is still out on the current group of Anthony Seibold (defence; first rugby union job), Martin Gleeson (attack; second full year in union), Matt Proudfoot and Richard Cockerill (forwards).
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Does the RFU approve of and pay for every consultant used by England?
Jones takes his media advice from David Pembroke, a long-time friend and associate in Canberra, rather than the RFU. Outside influences can be hugely beneficial in the world of high performance because so many ideas work across sports — but Jones has had an erratic record of bringing in expensive consultants. Are they vetted? One has been described as a “weapons-grade lunatic”.
Did the RFU approve of Jones writing three books while England coach?
Jones is believed to have written a book in Japanese in addition to the two published in English. The most recent book, Leadership, contains criticism of current and senior England players — including of Maro Itoje’s captaincy credentials — some of which he has already retracted.
Does the RFU sign off on all Jones’s outside interests?
The RFU has always said it supported Jones coaching at Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath — but never answered whether it knew from the start. The suspicion is it did not — just as it was surprised to learn about a number of personal sponsorship arrangements.
Jones has also held roles with Goldman Sachs and Nomura, and when Umbro became England’s kit provider, Jones signed his own deal to be an ambassador. It happened around the same time as RFU staff took a 25 per cent pay cut.
Jones has an array of non-England commitments, including a coaching role in Japan and corporate briefs with Goldman Sachs and Nomura
What is the succession plan?
The RFU has had four different chief executives during Jones’s tenure and the succession plan has changed nearly as many times. Will a successor be recruited before the World Cup, as France did with Fabien Galthié, and does he need international coaching experience, which has previously been a prerequisite?
Why has the RFU not taken any action over the conduct of the England Under-20 team and doctor during their defeat by Italy?
The incident was nearly six weeks ago. The England doctor sought to overrule the head-injury-assessment procedure and allegedly swore at the female referee. There have been further complaints about the team’s overall conduct to the official. The lack of action is not in keeping with the RFU’s trumpeted values of respect and discipline.
The RFU is being sued by former players — does rugby need to stand down concussed players for longer?
There was an outcry when Kyle Sinckler played against France a week after appearing to be knocked out against Ireland. He passed the six-stage return-to-play programme but rugby league and AFL have a longer mandatory stand-down period. Is that now best practice and should rugby follow suit — or are you wedded to the current system because of the law suit?
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Is Jones speaking on behalf of the RFU when he suggests England are held back by the Premiership?
Jones twice highlighted the lack of preparation time as being a hindrance to England. France have stolen a march on England in terms of club-country co-operation since Bernard Laporte took over as FFR president. It is seen much more now as a joint venture.
What is the RFU’s vision for the second tier?
The last we heard, the RFU believed the Championship could no longer function as a professional league. Would that mean a permanent ring-fencing of the Premiership? This is especially relevant as the strength of the French Pro D2 has had a significant impact on the success of the national team, producing Melvyn Jaminet and Gabin Villière.
There are issues at grassroots level, too. By December last year, rugby’s participation had not returned to pre-Covid levels and there has been a downward trend for some years.
Sweeney in testing territory
Bill Sweeney knew that he was joining the RFU at a challenging time for the sport when he became chief executive less than three years ago. His predecessor, Stephen Brown, had stepped down suddenly after only 14 months in the role due to an increasingly gloomy financial picture, as the game’s wealthiest union announced a loss of £30.9 million and made 62 redundancies.
He soon had to deal with the fallout from the Saracens salary-cap scandal, the ring-fencing debate in the Gallagher Premiership, the protracted attempts to make changes to the international calendar and a pandemic that further damaged finances.
But Sweeney, 64, was hired partly due to his record of turning around parlous financial positions, having taken the British Olympic Association (BOA), his previous employer, from losing £700,000 in 2014 to announcing record profits two years later. After making his name at Puma and Adidas, along with earlier roles at Shell, Mars and Unilever, Sweeney said the job at the RFU was “the only opportunity I would have left the BOA for”.
After giving Eddie Jones a contract extension in April 2020 through to the next World Cup, Sweeney found himself having to defend the head coach after last year’s dismal fifth-placed finish in the Six Nations. Now he finds himself in familiar territory again.
Always a Wasp
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