What Exactly Are the Rugby Football Union Up To?

The following article should come with a few disclaimers.

It will, undoubtedly, indisputably and certainly contain the following things—frustration, disbelief, anger, and disappointment.

With that out of the way, we can get stuck in to the real meat of the piece.

What exactly are the RFU doing?

In 2004, after guiding England to World Cup glory, Clive Woodward delivered a set of requests to the RFU board, adamant that unless they were implemented immediately England Rugby would fall rapidly and unceremoniously from grace.

These demands were reasonable and progressive and demonstrated the inner workings of a man whose desire was not only to provide a winning structure for England in 2003, but also to take it forward to the 2007 World Cup.

Woodward asked for numerous things that he believed would keep England at the top of the rugby world. He asked for a concrete and well structured club versus country agreement that would allow greater time with the players and flexibility in their availability to England.

He asked for a restructure of the academy system to ensure that players were not wasted and that genuine talent was given a chance to shine.

He asked for greater funding to expand on the work that the England backroom staff had done in turning England into the fittest, fastest and most disciplined side in rugby.

He was given none of this.

At the time many were quick to dismiss his requests as they sipped from the cup of glory and rode the wave of success. The RFU stumbled from function to dinner, from event to award in a haze of inflated self importance.

The bubble burst quickly. The 2004 Six Nations came and went in a blur of disappointment and disbelief. The world champions were falling—and they were falling fast.

So Clive Woodward walked, and rightly so. He saw absolutely no sense in remaining within a structure that actively penalised progress. He saw no sense in remaining in an environment that was unwilling to take the necessary steps to achieve success. Many stated at the time, Woodward included, that England won the World Cup in spite of the RFU structure—not because of it.

Then, in arguably the most misleading appointment in history, Rob Andrew was made the Elite Performance Director. The title itself is laughable as Andrew is neither elite, nor does he perform. He struggles sometimes to even find direction.

Rather than making attempts to improve the system he too often harks back to the excuse that Clive Woodward left him nothing to build on, that the previous regime had left England in a poor state. He seems to fail to grasp the notion that prior to Woodward there was no structure at all—just a collection of blazers who were happy to collect their salary and move on.

Andrew was brought in to supervise Andy Robinson and did so by firing his backroom staff and placing a mish-mash of poorly qualified coaches in there instead.

Under Robinson there still remained the core of the World Cup-winning coaching structure. Dave Alred, Phil Pask, Phil Larder, Dave Reddin, all masters in their field.

After Andrew was done they were all gone, only for some of them to be brought back as consultant coaches after it was found that their replacements were not up to the task. Dave Alred is still paid by the RFU to coach Danny Cipriani, Toby Flood, and Jonny Wilkinson after the replacement admitted that he was unsure how southern-hemisphere teams kicked the ball so far.

After Robinson came Ashton. And that was a farce that does not need to be re-lived. Shoehorned into an impossible position Ashton was given little room to work. In the background Andrew was all smiles and sunshine when England reached the World Cup final in 2007, but quickly disappeared after the disappointment of the 2008 Six Nations.

Then came Johnson, hailed by many to save England rugby. Alas he was still lumped with the same collection of useless coaches that had presided over poor England performances since 2005.

John Wells has to go. He is not an international forwards coach, and his attitude and tactics neuter an England squad that has some real ability and talent. Mike Ford also fails so spectacularly in his role.

Under Larder, England had the meanest defence in the world, and now we leak an average of 25 points a game. We cannot hope to compete consistently on the world stage with a collection of coaches who would struggle to find a job coaching minnow sides.

The question that stands is just what, exactly, are the RFU doing to justify their wages? As the richest union in Rugby, what are the RFU spending their cash on? Rob Andrew collects £400,000 per-year for seemingly doing nothing of any importance and it is the paying rugby public who foot the bill. Even the sponsors are growing weary of England's systemic inability to adapt and contract renewals are down in value and shorter in length.

If we intend to rise from this mess we find ourselves in, the RFU should go hat in hand to whatever coach Johnson deems necessary and use some of that stockpiled cash to ensure they are hired, at least this time the £400,000 may be spent on someone useful.

The RFU has presided over four years of total mediocrity, incompetence and failure. It’s time that they change the record before England fans really lose patience.  Whilst a sold out Twickenham was a regular sight, the current crisis means fans will be less than enthusiastic about shelling out £80 to watch the same disappointing England performance they’ve witnessed since 2004.

It’s time to change—before it’s too late.