Rugby-RFU boss Sweeney upbeat over future after year of gloom

Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Bill Sweeney said English and world rugby was "on the cusp of something quite spectacular" and he remained the right man to lead the biggest and richest union in the sport after year of turmoil.

Last week Championship winners Jersey Reds became the fourth English rugby club to shut down through financial problems and were told on Wednesday that they would get no state support. That followed the demise of Premiership trio Worcester, Wasps and London Irish.

The RFU also faced a rebellion from within after apologising for its mishandling of new tackle laws for the community game, while on the field England's struggles led to the costly sacking of their Australian coach Eddie Jones. Sweeney has not spoken to the media for nine months but in a lengthy briefing he addressed the issues and said he understood the frustration.

"I came into this role because I am passionate about this game," he said late on Wednesday from England's World Cup base in France. "If you look at all the things that have happened over the last 12 months with clubs going into liquidation, the tackle height situation and reports about our financial state, I get all that.

"We have got to go out there and talk to people directly but also through the media in terms of the real state of the game." "This is a unique moment, an opportunity in time to fix the things that have stopped us winning Six Nations championships on a regular basis," Sweeney added.

"To have more consistently performing England teams we need to fix a number of issues that have been broken for some time. We have won four Six Nations and one World Cup in 20 years. That is not what you would expect from us. "But I do believe that we are on the cusp of something quite spectacular here. The work that we’re doing in World Rugby around Nations Cup, the global calendar, that all plays into this as well and I feel that I have the energy, the passion and the desire to see this through.”

NEW AGREEMENT Sweeney, appointed in 2019 after five years at the British Olympic Association, said the RFU had agreed the basis of a new partnership arrangement with the 10 remaining Premiership clubs.

It will include some version of "enhanced contracts" for 25 England players that would give the national team more control over them - though the clubs would keep control of selection. He said the announcement of a change to tackle height to the waist - which caused uproar in the game - was purely a communications issue and that, after a hurried apology and clarification that "sternum" was the key word, the change was a huge success as player welfare remains the priority.

"I was talking to the New Zealanders today at the end of their first full season of reduced tackle height and they've had no issues whatsoever," he said. "More open rugby, more tries, fewer concussions being reported and no flurry of red cards. "The decision to lower the tackle height I think will go down as a real leadership position for the RFU. All of the other home unions are also at the same level for this season, the base of the sternum. That has been ratified and rationalised so you have got cross border tours, there’s no complication."

Sweeney also dismissed the reported rebellion within his organisation. “It is a small group of people who are no longer in the game or have agendas that are not necessarily in the best interests of the game,” he said. "That stirred up a lot of conversation and a lot of time spent explaining matters.

"It was pretty cynical, we discussed it at Council and that resolution was withdrawn. The vast majority of Council are really keen to work with us in a more open and transparent way."

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