Former RFU boss blasts union and calls for radical reform of English game
Francis Baron, the former Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive, is calling for a radical reform of the governing body including the axing of ”inappropriate” multi-million-pound funding of Premiership Rugby despite the current crisis that has seen Wasps and Worcester enter administration.
Baron has produced an exhaustive review of the current financial difficulties facing the RFU and PRL in The Rugby Paper and has put forward radical proposals in a far-reaching document, including restoring adequate funding for the Championship.
He said: “It is no longer possible to justify, in my view, the continued large and unaffordable RFU grant funding to PRL. PRL is no longer an organisation solely of RFU Member Clubs. It is now an organisation which is 27 per cent owned by CVC Capital Partners, a global financial giant with assets under management of US$118 billion. It is therefore now wholly inappropriate for the RFU providing grant funding to benefit, in part, that 27 per cent shareholder who is not an RFU Member.
“The alternative, if PRL do not accept the changes, is for the (EPS) players to have RFU central contracts (as in the ECB) with the clubs paying the RFU a pro rata share of the annual salaries of the EPS players under these central contracts based on the number of days the EPS players spend on Club duty, i.e. reversing the current arrangements.
“The RFU should, of course, continue to pay the agreed international match fees and bonuses to EPS players but these should in future be paid direct to the players and not via their clubs who could end up in administration and not pay on those fees on to their players.”
Baron held the CEO role for 12 years and was in charge for the 2003 Rugby World Cup win. He believes the current RFU management headed by CEO Bill Sweeney need to make key decisions to bring down mounting debt. He said: “RFU has gone from being financially the strongest Union in the world in 2011/12 to one of the weakest in 2019 (pre-COVID).
“The game is crying out for clear leadership that has, sadly, been very absent in recent years. The silence from the new chairman (Tom Ilube) is deafening. The CEO setting up yet more task groups and working parties to tell him what to do is, to say the least, worrying.
“The RFU’s cumulative losses since 2012 have been £73m, reserves have disappeared, and total net debt has risen to £265m whilst the Community share of rugby investment has fallen from 46 per cent to 29 per cent resulting in male adult participation in the Community game, the base of the rugby pyramid, falling fast. PRL’s financial woes have been all too apparent in the events of recent weeks.
“A radical new approach is needed post-COVID to address the material issues and dangers facing both the professional and Community games in England. To do this I believe a new approach is needed by both the RFU & PRL. As far as the RFU is concerned a necessary and fundamental rethink of recent RFU priorities and policy direction is required.
“With Wasps in administration, Worcester facing liquidation and at least two other PRL clubs reportedly ‘up for sale’, one third of PRL clubs are in various degrees of financial difficulty. It is difficult not to conclude that the current PRL business model is no longer working, viable or attractive to investors.”
Baron is scathing in his verdict on the union he used to run and added: “The actual policy followed by the RFU Board since 2012 appears to have been to run the RFU at a loss each year and use reserves to cover these losses and normal everyday expenditure, in order to maintain rugby investment at a headline ‘PR spin’ figure of £100m although most of this was to fund the Andy Cosslett’s ‘costly’ PGA agreement.
“It is therefore difficult not to conclude that the PRL business and financial model has failed, and a fundamental rethink is required. Not only are all PRL clubs to a greater or lesser extent in serious financial difficulty but the current RFU/PRL agreement, which the then RFU chairman belatedly and euphemistically called ‘costly’, has materially contributed to the RFU’s own serious financial difficulties which have resulted in the cutbacks in support of the Community Game leading to the sharp decline in adult male participation.”
Baron’s figures show that :
Over the period 2012 to 2019 the RFU made a cumulative net loss of £73.4m (excluding the one-off ‘ring fenced’ £26m RWC2015 profit). This compares on a like-for-like basis with cumulative net profits being made over the same period by the WRU of £9.6m, SRU of £7.7m and the IRFU of €53.4m.
The total net debt (debentures plus bank loans less cash balances) of the RFU over the same period increased from £131m to £250m, a rise of £119m. In comparison the WRU’s total net debt fell by £19.8m, that of the SRU fell by £14.3m and that of the IRFU fell by €83.1m.
The investment in professional rugby by the RFU between 2012 and 2019 has totalled £417m. The comparative figure for the WRU is £190m, the SRU is £195m and the IRFU £250m. Has the large RFU excess funding been well spent? The England performance section below sets out the analysis in this respect.
He continued: “What is embarrassingly absent from any CEO statement or statements in the RFU Annual Reports is the appointment of any Task Group to review and recommend on the RFU’s failing financial performance with recommendations about how to address this.
“Championship funding from the RFU to be restored and augmented from the current £1m to c£4m p.a. for facilities investment to prepare clubs for possible promotion to the Premiership. This amounts to an additional c£25m phased in over the 8 years”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think you might have written this just before the Brumbies got thrashed last weekend
5 Go to commentsI really do believe that Billy Proctor should be selected at least in the larger squad but also it would be my choice at 13, much more a center than Ioane who can still play at wing. Roigard if fit should play, otherwise it should be Perenara or Christie. Also, Iose could deserve a spot at blindside. Of course, being a Canes supporter I’m biased but I really believe that at least Billy P is deserving a chance and being Holland one of the Selectors, I’m having a little hope he could grab it.
12 Go to commentsI would not play Swinton I’d pick Wright or Hanigan. The rest are decent starters, but can’t agree on any subs except Tupou. My take on the subs: Gibbon, Ueslese, Tupou, LSL, Wilson, White, Will Harrison, and Petaia.
5 Go to commentsSBW the biggest moron to pull on a black jersey a park footy player at best
7 Go to commentsSBW is fast becoming a laughing stock, his misplaced comments & lack of insight Is actually pretty sad.
7 Go to commentsJust well you guys are couch 🛋 potatoes selector's, picking a team of greenhorns to play England! “What are you people smoking?” The halfbacks will be Christie, Fakatava, Perenara Props; Newell, Bower, Lomax, Tunga'fasi, Hookers; Asosa Amua when fit, Taylor, Samisoni,
12 Go to commentsQuite frankly, all this is a bit pathetic. The first time Wales get the Wooden Spoon in 21 years and everyone is on the bandwagon for a ‘play-off’ game. Wales have no obligation to Georgia and no obligation to the rest of the Six Nations to play such a game. If they want Georgia in so badly then they need to include South Africa into a Northern Hemisphere competition with 2 leagues of 4 teams with the top 2 competing for the Championship. Sadly, this will end Triple Crowns and Grand Slams forever. Is this really what you want?
4 Go to commentsI think Finau to start Blackadder to come on. Poss Prokter instead of Ioane, haven't seen much from Reiko so far this year.
12 Go to commentsJoe will have had a good chat with Dave Rennie, a smart move to begin with while it’s doubtful Fast Eddie will be consulted? Plenty of Aus players hitting top form so they should go OK.
5 Go to commentsMmm. Not sure I like this article or see it as necessary.
7 Go to commentsBlackadder but no Finau! 😀 It’s Razor so you are probably right, plus Taylor at 2…
12 Go to commentsThe strongest possible AB side would actually include Aaron Smith, Bodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Shannon Frizzel.. don’t get me started on the rest of the injury hit brigade that got flung on the heap so left. Many a whole not getting filled as of yet.
12 Go to commentsI don’t think anyone knows what Schmidt will do, one thing is certain it ain’t gonna be all the picks we on the keyboard will think. My impression of him is that he will be looking at who can step up and what is the best combination. He will ignore individuals as he looks for guys who can build a powerful team and not just guys who can make a flashy run or ignore the winger as they want to score themselves.
5 Go to commentsSome dumb selections there. Not Porecki Not Donaldson Not Gordon Not Lonegran - both Not Nic White - Fines instead Not Liam Wright Not Paisami Definitely not Vunivalu Other than that not bad.
5 Go to commentsI've never been convinced that Patty T is a test match all black. Otherwise I probably agree it's the best side available to beat the poms. Caveat that Codie Taylor is yet to be seen and could very likely warrant selection by June. I hope that Razor brings the young loosies, half backs and locks into the training squad and develops/ selects the best
12 Go to commentsYou doing the same thing I disliked about the example of Samisoni Taukei'aho, Nick. He’s great the way he is, you’re trying to do what modern-day coaches frustrate me doing, turning everyone into the perfect athlete. Next thing you’ll be telling me you’ll bench him until he’s hit that arbitrary marker, and can’t overtake the current guy who’s doing all his workons. He’s a young Kieran Read, through and through, plays wide and has threat, mainly (and evident in your clips) through his two hand carry and speed. Just let him work on that, or whatever he wants, and determine his own future. Play God and you risk the players going sideways, like Read did, instead of being a Toutai Kefu. I mean I was in the same camp for a while, wanting our tight five to have the size, and carry ability, as the teams they were getting beat by. Now I’m starting to believe those teams just have better skilled and practiced individuals, bigger by upwards of 5kg sometimes, sure, but more influentially they have those intrinsic skills of trust and awareness. Basically our guys just didn’t know wtf they were doing. Don’t think I’m trying to prove a point here but hasn’t Caleb Clarke been in much better form this year, or does he just ‘look’ better now that he’s not always trying to use his size?
46 Go to commentsThe pack lacks a little in height for the line out and I wouldn’t be completely convinced by some of the combinations till we see it in action.
12 Go to commentsThe side is good but lacks experience. International playing bona fides udually trumps super rugby form for good reason. And incumbents are usually stuck with. Codie Taylor should start or come off the bench. B Barrett will start at fullback. Blackadder has not earned the position, Finau has. TJs experience and competitiveness earns him a starting role, Christie or Ratima off the bench
12 Go to commentsPretty good side. Scott Barrett should be the captain. Ethan Blackadder a great choice at blindside. He is going to go from strength to strength having made a couple of starts for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson rates him highly. Perenara could start a no 9.
12 Go to commentsI question and with respect. Was enough done over the last few years to bring through new blood knowing the Whitelocks and co couldn’t last forever. There should have been more done to future proof the team. New squad new coach, he and they weren’t set up well. IMO
6 Go to comments