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'The lack of RFU leadership is absolutely appalling... they are letting us all down'
How Championship clubs in England react to Friday’s decision by the RFU to end with immediate effect the 2019/20 season will be interesting given the stinging criticism contained in an English newspaper article prior to CEO Bill Sweeney’s announcement.
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It was last Monday when the RFU announced an initial temporary suspension of rugby in England that was to last until next month. However, they have now scratched all 2019/20 competitions save for the Gallagher Premiership.
Freddie Burns takes RugbyPass through his fitness regime during the coronavirus lockdown
Prior to this development, anger had been rife among some Championship clubs about an alleged lack of leadership from English Rugby HQ.
Amid fears that some clubs could go to the wall amid the shutdown that followed the RFU’s decision last month to cut Championship funding in half, Nottingham chairman Alistair Bow told Telegraph Sport: “The WRU and SRU and Football League along with many other governing bodies are in constant communication with their clubs and have already got disaster funds in place.
“The only body we have not heard anything from is the RFU, either publicly or privately. Through my different business interests, I am a member of several organisations who have governing bodies and the RFU is by far the worst. They are doing diddly squat, or at least they are not communicating what they are doing.
“The lack of leadership is absolutely appalling. I truly believe out of all my businesses, the one we need strong leadership from the most is the RFU and it has been non-existent.
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“The board need to stand up and be counted. We need public statements from them about what support they are going to be offering to our sport. At the moment, they are letting us all down to the extent they could wipe out a sport that we love unless they take immediate action.”
Another unnamed Championship club official added: “It is like we have suffered one kick to the b******* and we have now had another. I just don’t know how some clubs are going to survive.”
Prior to the pandemic striking, Nottingham has planned on remaining full-time for 2020/21, but they had since revised their plan and would instead be going part-time.
“We were going to operate as normal up until the virus,” added Bow. “We had already worked out our budget for next year and we were going to stay professional.
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Waiting game ?
https://t.co/NdjfUZeJQO— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 20, 2020
“This now means our income has gone down to zero. I do know, speaking to other clubs on a daily basis, that everyone has been massively affected by this, and remodelling is inevitable.
“As of today we are still paying players but what the situation will be next month I don’t know because we are not getting any clarity or leadership from the RFU. We can’t plan without our governing body giving us clear direction.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
It sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
7 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
203 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
2 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
7 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
7 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
7 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
203 Go to comments