Bill Sweeney gets his bonus

[jngf]

To go straight to the report about the year in question...https://rfu.widen.net/s/g5mhlxtpmg/annu ... rt-2023-24

This was published nearly a month ago

Ta!

[Banquo]

To go straight to the report about the year in question...https://rfu.widen.net/s/g5mhlxtpmg/annu ... rt-2023-24

This was published nearly a month ago

Ta!

makes for interesting reading tbh.

[jngf]

I’ve a feeling some big (rugby) player greats are going to be doing extra media duty this weekend

[Mellsblue]

An open letter from Bill Beaumont:


Dear Members,

Today the RFU Council ratified my appointment as Interim Chair of the RFU Board; it is a great honour to be taking on this role and I thank Council for their support.

I’ve had a busy few weeks engaging with the RFU Board and Council, and listening to players, volunteers, match officials and fans. From those conversations it is very clear the game wants and needs unity, and it is my priority to help to bring the game together.

Unity does not mean no challenge or debate. I hear and empathise with some of the concerns around the payment of a long-term incentive plan. I want to understand how decisions were taken, and it is right that an independent review of the process has been commissioned.  The review should be allowed to run its natural course, and I look forward to its outcomes.

This is a serious moment for the game of rugby in England. There have been demands for change without clarity on the real reasons why, or proposals for an alternative vision. There has been a call for a Special General Meeting (SGM) and we will respect the right of members to have their views heard.

Our sport has a long history of in-fighting and we sometimes lose sight of what is best for rugby as a whole. Whatever we do next, it needs to be for the good of the English game.

We need to listen and be supportive of one another. That is why I will be hitting the road on a nationwide tour of rugby clubs in January and February, so we can debate and agree a united way forward.

We also need to reflect on how hard the last few years have been. I can offer a wider context on that from my recent position as Chair of World Rugby. The impact Covid, inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has had on the game around the globe has been significant in terms of participation, confidence, and finances at every level. 

Objectively, we should ask whether English rugby, in the aftermath, was managed effectively. Having seen all countries wrangle the same problems, I can say with confidence in comparison to many other countries the RFU has come out of this period very well.

The RFU did not receive any government or World Rugby loans. It did, however, successfully negotiate support on behalf of community clubs, and facilitated professional clubs’ access to government loans, which ensured rugby received more financial support in England than any other sport.

There is much work needed to reset and come together as a united game, and I am committed to supporting that. In the short time I have been back in this role, I have also seen that rugby in England has lots of positives to build on.

The RFU has committed to an investment programme in the community game that will see more coaches, more resources for clubs, and accessible forms of rugby being taken into thousands of schools.

We are set to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup – a generational opportunity to get more women and girls playing rugby. Participation in the men’s game has also bounced back close to where it was pre-Covid.

When I’m on the road I will be listening to your feedback and input so do please sign up to join one of the sessions which will be announced in next week’s Community Game Update.

We all want winning men’s and women’s England teams, and this can’t happen without a thriving community game. I want us to have unity, and the stability required to deliver this. If we work together, we will succeed. If we work against each other, English rugby will not be the winner on or off the pitch.

[loudnconfident]

The RFU have signed another consultancy (link paywalled)

https://www.thetimes.com/article/eb3176 ... c8689f37a8

"Even though this is a scandal about costs, the RFU is now accruing a growing bill from its attempts to quell disquiet. It has given Freshfields, the law firm, a £50,000 contract to conduct an independent review into the LTIP scheme. Teneo will be working on and off on a three-month contract. '

The RFU has a large communications department with a seven-figure budget, yet it has decided to enlist Teneo, a consultancy that gives advice to businesses that have struggled with their communications strategy."

[FKAS]

The RFU have signed another consultancy (link paywalled)

https://www.thetimes.com/article/eb3176 ... c8689f37a8

"Even though this is a scandal about costs, the RFU is now accruing a growing bill from its attempts to quell disquiet. It has given Freshfields, the law firm, a £50,000 contract to conduct an independent review into the LTIP scheme. Teneo will be working on and off on a three-month contract. '

The RFU has a large communications department with a seven-figure budget, yet it has decided to enlist Teneo, a consultancy that gives advice to businesses that have struggled with their communications strategy."

Well yeah because the department with the seven figure budget isn't going to report back that they've been rubbish and can operate on a significantly smaller amount are they. You need the independent bit to make any review worthwhile.

[loudnconfident]

I appreciated one Comment on the article:
"Rationale for Sweeney’s £1.1M is that that’s the going rate for such a complicated business. RFU is a co-op that turned over £125M last year. The Co-op (as in the shops) turns over £11.9 Billion. Their CEO gets £1.6M. Midcounties Co-op & Central Co-op turn over about £1 billion each. Their CEOs get c.£750K. Including bonuses."

[Mellsblue]

Apples and pears, innit.

[Slater582]

Not sure if this has been posted already. It starts with explaining the situation regards Sweeney and then he gives his point of view.

Some other issues discussed:

19:40 Twickenham name change
23:30 Sweeney Bonus
32:50 RFU losses
44:20 Community Game
01:00:00 Premiership Clubs financial situation
01:01:30 Tackle height change debacle
01:06:40 Championship

[Mellsblue]

Cheers. I have alot of miles to cover for site visits next week and the podcast version will help break up the monotony.

[jngf]

Not sure if this has been posted already. It starts with explaining the situation regards Sweeney and then he gives his point of view.

Some other issues discussed:

19:40 Twickenham name change
23:30 Sweeney Bonus
32:50 RFU losses
44:20 Community Game
01:00:00 Premiership Clubs financial situation
01:01:30 Tackle height change debacle
01:06:40 Championship

Looking through this what comes across is a guy stuck in an archaichly structured organisation, with limited real power (or incentive?) to do anything revolutionary about its inherent flaws despite being nominally the CEO. It also shows RFU is woeful at managing it’s own PR - the optics of the bonus issue remain bad and anybody is capable of declining a bonus offered to them without voiding their overall contract of employment.For me what’s been Sweeney’s biggest mistake is misreading the room on this.

[Mellsblue]

An extra England match (vs Aus) in the autumn plus SA vs Argentina. The RFU are sweating their only asset to fill that blackhole in the accounts.

[Puja]

An extra England match (vs Aus) in the autumn plus SA vs Argentina. The RFU are sweating their only asset to fill that blackhole in the accounts.

Where've you seen that?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

The Times for the extra AI test and email for SA vs Argentina.

[Puja]

The Times for the extra AI test and email for SA vs Argentina.

So is that 4 AIs or would extra be a fifth?

Puja

[Mellsblue]

The Times for the extra AI test and email for SA vs Argentina.

So is that 4 AIs or would extra be a fifth?

Puja

Four. Normally only three post BIL.

[Banquo]

The Times for the extra AI test and email for SA vs Argentina.

So is that 4 AIs or would extra be a fifth?

Puja

Four. Normally only three post BIL.

or indeed post BILL

[jngf]

Word on the street is that RFU are in exploratory talks with a new female Chief Financial Officer whom their looking to headhunt from the public sector

[marklc]

Word on the street is that RFU are in exploratory talks with a new female Chief Financial Officer whom their looking to headhunt from the public sector

Apparently Dido Harding.

[Puja]

Word on the street is that RFU are in exploratory talks with a new female Chief Financial Officer whom their looking to headhunt from the public sector

Apparently Dido Harding.

I am hoping this is a joke?

Puja

[Banquo]

Word on the street is that RFU are in exploratory talks with a new female Chief Financial Officer whom their looking to headhunt from the public sector

Apparently Dido Harding.

I am hoping this is a joke?

Puja

me too...I was thinking Rachel from Customer Service..

[Puja]

The review done by the corporate lawyers being paid by the RFU comes back and, shockingly, it turns out that the RFU did nothing wrong and everything was perfectly reasonable. Well, that was a good use of the shit-tonne of money it would've cost to get that review done.

Found this response enjoyably snarky:

The Whole Game Union, a group which organised a letter with 152 signatures calling for the special general meeting, has given an initial response to the review despite saying it would need more time to fully interpret the publication.

"One preliminary observation we have is that the report, within its limited terms of reference, appears to find that what occurred over the granting of huge bonuses to executives of the RFU was acceptable behaviour for a corporation," said the group.

"The hundreds of clubs and members that make up the Rugby Football Union, a registered society under the Co-operative and Benefit Societies Act 2014, may be asking themselves today: when did we join a corporation?"

Puja

[jngf]

Word on the street is that RFU are in exploratory talks with a new female Chief Financial Officer whom their looking to headhunt from the public sector

Apparently Dido Harding.

I am hoping this is a joke?

Puja

Yes to put anyone’s mind at rest

[Puja]

Apparently Dido Harding.

I am hoping this is a joke?

Puja

Yes to put anyone’s mind at rest

Thank you - the confirmation is very appreciated. It's not outlandish enough that I'm 100% certain the RFU wouldn't do it. Has the sporting governance background from being on the board of the Jockey Club and Cheltenham Racecourse, went to the right schools and university course, knows the right kind of people and has the right kind of connections - it is disturbingly plausible.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Rugby people: "We're sick of 57 amateur old farts, this is a modern professional world. We need board room professionals on the RFU board"
Also rugby people: "What do you mean these board room professionals are acting like board room professionals? We need people with passion, and personal investment in the sport to be running the game"