Ian Metcalfe, the chairman of the Professional Game Board, would welcome input from Sir Alex Ferguson, among others, as the Rugby Football Union continue to rebuild after the traumas of recent months. "I'd speak to anybody who could make a contribution and is willing to," he said. "I would love to talk to Alex Ferguson. You look at the success he has created through a dynasty. But I think there may be more relevant examples in our sport. The All Blacks have created a self-perpetuating dynasty."

Even Sir Clive Woodward, apparently now out of the reckoning with the proposed removal of a "buffer" role between the head coach and the chief executive, was mentioned as a potential sounding board. "We have not talked about Clive, but, yes, if he has got a contribution to make we would listen. He is on the record as saying certain things that we can and can't do. But if Clive has got a contribution to make in the appropriate way then that is fine."

The turnaround wrought in the England cricket team under Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss is one model that has particularly caught the eye of Metcalfe, who also sits on the board at Warwickshire. "When you look back at where English cricket was, with a whitewash in an Ashes series and similar sorts of issues around behaviour, both on and off the field, it has been extraordinary to watch [their resurgence] after Andy Flower's appointment through a confidential headhunting process."