Sweeney survives vote of no confidence at RFU special general meeting

Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership to signal a ceasefire in the civil war that had broken out in the game.

However, the rebel clubs calling for Sweeney’s contract to be terminated by the board at a special general meeting on Thursday warned that promised governance and structural reforms must be completed to avoid a further outbreak of conflict.

A community game uprising ignited by the bonus and pay scandal that has gripped Twickenham gathered enough support to trigger the RFU’s first SGM for 20 years and tabled the motion calling for Sweeney to be dismissed as soon as possible.

But they received only 206 of the 708 votes cast with 36 members abstaining, registering 29.10 per cent of the total.

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The 65.82 per cent who polled in support of Sweeney means the highest ranking administrator in English rugby has faced down the rebellion. The total RFU membership with voting rights is in the region of 1,300.

Interim chairman Sir Bill Beaumont, who stepped in when predecessor Tom Ilube resigned in January in response to the crisis, described the outcome as “emphatic” and “decisive”.

“I ask that you now give the RFU the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to progress. We are listening and taking action,” Beaumont said.

“These last few months have not been easy for English rugby where a lot has played out in the media. Now is the time to pull together and this shouldn’t happen again.

“But it’s important to remember, and we do understand this, that we are all united by a common passion for the game.”

A second proposal tabled by the RFU in response to concerns raised during the roadshow around clubs recently undertaken by Sweeney and Beaumont pledged to give regional bodies more freedom to run the community game in their locality. This received 554 votes with 127 voting against and 24 abstaining.

The rebels, represented by the Whole Game Union (WGU), were satisfied with the promises made by the RFU and will shelve a motion calling for its entire board to be sacked.

But they vowed to resume hostilities if the reforms are not forthcoming, setting a deadline of the annual general meeting in June for them to be in place.

“The result was not as important as what comes next. What we have seen is a very strong support for change,” WGU co-chair Alistair Bow said.

“When you look at the numbers and percentages (in support of Sweeney) it clearly shows that there’s a big problem in the game.

“If you were in the corporate world with that result, as a CEO you would be in a spot of bother, you wouldn’t be surviving.

“However, what has been said is that clubs want change and they are expecting to see change. The strong message from speaking to Bill Sweeney and Bill Beaumont and (RFU president) Rob Udwin afterwards is that we are going to see change.

“They know that the world has been looking at them and that the rugby public are expecting to see change.

“Now we are going to see how that plays outs. Hopefully we can work together. The hard work starts today.”