It would also be a real boon to say, as we enter 2024, that everything is rosy in the rugby union garden but, given the current state of the game at the moment in England, and elsewhere, this column would be guilty of flying a false flag.
The biggest issue facing the game in England is whether the RFU is any longer fit for purpose as its governing body. The protracted Twickenham administration’s love-in with Eddie Jones, typified by the podcast where Conor O’Shea, the performance director charged with providing an objective assessment of Jones £750k p.a. role as part-time head coach, was his cheerleading co-host, is the tip of the iceberg.
The desperately poor second stage of the Australian’s tenure post-2019 went unchecked until, less than a year before the 2023 World Cup, he was belatedly sacked. Even then the RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, allowed Jones to jump ship immediately to become Australia head coach, despite England being in the same half of the World Cup draw. Fortunately for Sweeney and O’Shea, the Wallaby pool stage disaster that followed meant that the inside knowledge Jones had on England was not deployed against them. However, due to an RFU culture of almost total non-accountability, both Sweeney and O’Shea have sailed on – and now they have steered the RFU ship into the huge mass of the iceberg beneath the waterline.
Their desire to recast the professional end of the English game into American-style franchise leagues, in a limp imitation of the NFL, is in the process of doing such damage that their ship is listing badly.
The Sweeney and O’Shea strategy has seen the entire weight of the RFU, in terms of both finance and policy, thrown behind the Premiership cartel of 10 clubs through their hugely divisive Professional Game Partnership (PGP).
Denne historien er fra December 31, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Denne historien er fra December 31, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Ten-try Chiefs show Pirates no mercy
TEN-TRY Exeter inflicted the backlash from six successive defeats in their worst ever start to a Premiership season on a young Pirates side suffering their own problems in the Championship.
South America look to keep on building
AS Sebastián Piñeyrúa's historic six-year term as President of Rugby Sudamérica comes to an end, his replacement shows no signs of slowing down.
Scarratt excited by new pathway
ENGLAND centurion Emily Scarratt is delighted with the new women's BUCS programme which aims to provide a smoother pathway for young aspiring female players.
Baxter: I want to make things better
ROB Baxter will not be walking away from Exeter, the only club still looking for a Premiership victory this season, believing he can get the Chiefs back on track and he cannot bear the thought of anyone else doing the job.
Pearce walks in his father's footsteps
PADDY Pearce is living a dream after emulating his father and great-uncle by playing for the club he supported as a boy, Bristol.
New England group will cause uncertainty
SO JUST when we thought that everything was getting sorted between the RFU, the clubs and players, a number of new agreements and a new group raises its head.
Galthie turns his sights to the future
FRANCE head coach Fabien Galthie offered the clearest hint yet of Les Bleus' future on Wednesday, when he released 19 players back F to their clubs for the ninth and final Top 14 round before the international break.
Gilmore has tightened up our defence - Anderson
CAMERON Anderson has hailed the impact made by defence coach Jason Gilmore, below, since he arrived at The Stoop in the summer.
Ampthill given 11-try lesson in class from Bath
BATH secured a thumping away success in the opening match of their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign against Ampthill at Dillingham Park.
New faces take the plaudits for Saints
NORTHAMPTON handed out a thorough lesson to a tame Leicester team in this one-sided East Midlands derby to launch the Premiership Cup.