There have been suggestions in recent years, little more than rumours – though plenty of them – that the Rugby Football Union’s chief executive, Bill Sweeney, might have been preparing his exit strategy. That finding a replacement for Eddie Jones could be his parting gift, that negotiating the new eight-year agreement with the Premiership could be his intended legacy. Eventually the whispers grew loud enough that Sweeney publicly denied it and, after it emerged on Monday he was paid £1.1m thanks to the maturation of a bonus three years in the making, we appear to have a pretty good idea as to why.
The first thing to say about Sweeney’s eye-watering raise – a performance-based payment of £358,000 on top of a base salary of £742,000 – is that you can hardly blame him for taking it. Admittedly, he will have likely negotiated the details of the long-term incentive plan that has so lined his pockets but would you really expect him to turn it down? The blame lies with the RFU’s board and remuneration committee for signing off on a scheme that has made Sweeney the best-paid chief executive of a UK sports governing body – excluding payouts – at a time when 42 redundancies have just been made and a loss to reserves of £42m has just been announced.
The second, and perhaps the most remarkable, thing to say about Sweeney’s bumper bonus is that, had all targets been met, he would have trousered £100,000 more. As it was, while the “metrics” that the RFU’s annual report refers to were 100% met on finances – curious as the report also states that “we narrowly missed our total revenue target” – and participation in men’s community rugby, they were completely missed for participation in women’s and girls’ community rugby as well as inclusivity. One day the RFU may escape perceptions that have lingered since the days of amateurism, but it will not be today.
Keep reading the report and, amid the bullishness that seems at odds with record losses, the troubling acknowledgement from the outgoing chief financial officer, Sue Day, of overreliance on the investment by the private equity group CVC into the Six Nations, the insistence that the union is a greener organisation because Twickenham’s toilets now have hand dryers with “variable speed drives”, you start to ponder existential questions. What exactly is the point of the RFU?
In base terms, it is, of course, a governing body, plain and simple. But what does it stand for? What is it trying to achieve?
Men’s matches at Twickenham are, as Sweeney has happily admitted, the cash cow but is the RFU’s top priority the success of Steve Borthwick’s side? If it is, the union should unashamedly say so and hold the head coach to greater account after only five wins from 12 matches this year.
These reports used to spell out targets in terms of world rankings, win percentages, but there is little of that in what was released on Monday. “The England men’s team has shown huge progress under Steve Borthwick’s stewardship in his first full season as head coach, with notable performances against strong opposition in the Six Nations and tightly-fought contests in New Zealand,” is about as far as it goes which is a) highly debatable claptrap, and b) followed on the same page of the report by, “The England Senior Men’s team had a win rate of 65% this year, which does not include the two summer matches against New Zealand in July.” Do matches against the All Blacks count or not?
Sweeney is yet to give his public views on England’s autumn but while he is said to be “disappointed”, he gives the impression of someone happy enough if Twickenham is selling out with a head coach who isn’t about to hammer the private school system in public.
On the topic of schools, credit where it is due to the RFU for commissioning a report into schools rugby but the findings were excoriating. If the point of the union is to grow the game at junior level, at amateur level, to be more inclusive, to avoid becoming a “declining minority sport” as the schools report warns it could, there is considerable work to do. According to the annual report, 40% of people believe rugby union is a sport for all, which is both a 6% increase on the previous year and a desperately depressing statistic.
The report also reads: “Despite a year-on-year increase in age grade player registrations, insights highlight the risk of a decline in popularity of rugby for young people, which is driven by several societal factors. This downturn could negatively impact the future of the game, including player numbers, volunteers, coaches, match officials, and the sustainability of local clubs. Age grade girls’ game participation not meeting projected levels highlights a risk of growth in the women and girls’ game.”
What about the RFU’s position on the world stage? Is it committed to growing the sport beyond traditional territories? Abdel Benazzi was the candidate for change at the recent election for the next World Rugby chairman but he lost out to Australia’s Brett Robinson, who was endorsed by the RFU. Robinson was the conservative candidate but Sweeney has found southern-hemisphere allies in the Australian and his namesake Mark, the chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Indeed, Sweeney and Mark Robinson have struck up quite the friendship. Robinson is 50, 17 years younger than Sweeney, and was an All Black, playing alongside Jonah Lomu. On the topic of age, modernisation is another area in which the RFU has identified the need to improve. Twickenham is fast becoming a relic. After toying with a move to Wembley, then Birmingham, the union is committed to renovating Twickenham but it would cost £663m to overhaul the stadium entirely. Much faith, meanwhile, is being put in the RFU’s digital transformation programme and privately the union’s hierarchy acknowledges that the ageing profile of supporters, particularly match-goers, is chief among the threats to the sport’s future – on a par with the continuing brain injury litigation.
Sweeney is smart enough to know what was coming his way upon release of Monday’s report. He has felt the heat before, is likely to ride this out too and will see the strong prospect of an England Womenvictory at a home World Cup next year as too good an opportunity to let pass him by. At this stage, however, it is hard to see his legacy, whenever he does depart, being anything other than someone who was adept at surviving the storm. For £1.1m, it is not unreasonable to expect more.
