{"id":291160,"date":"2023-10-04T21:24:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T21:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=291160"},"modified":"2023-10-04T21:24:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T21:24:51","slug":"bill-sweeney-believes-english-rugby-is-on-cusp-of-something-quite-spectacular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-union\/bill-sweeney-believes-english-rugby-is-on-cusp-of-something-quite-spectacular\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Sweeney believes English rugby is \u2018on cusp of something quite spectacular\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bill Sweeney is confident he remains the right man to lead the Rugby Football Union despite the English game being mired in crisis and claims that \u201cwe are on the cusp of something quite spectacular\u201d.<\/p>\n

Four professional clubs have collapsed in just over a year \u2013 Wasps, Worcester, London Irish and Jersey Reds \u2013 while in January the Rugby Football Union triggered a grassroots revolt through its handling of the tackle height being lowered at community level.<\/p>\n

On the eve of England\u2019s victory over Argentina that opened the World Cup last month, RFU council members sent a letter to the board raising concerns over the leadership of chief executive Sweeney and chair Tom Ilube.<\/p>\n

Sweeney stated that the \u201ccynical\u201d rebellion had been faced down at Friday\u2019s council meeting, adding that it was staged by a \u201csmall group of people who are no longer in the game or have agendas that are not necessarily in the best interests of the game\u201d.<\/p>\n

At the elite level England have not finished above third place in the the Six Nations since 2020 and sacked Eddie Jones in December, giving his replacement Steve Borthwick just eight months to prepare for the World Cup.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s probably for others to say if they don\u2019t feel I am the right person to do it,\u201d Sweeney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally feel I am given my experience, given my background and my balance of business and sport. I feel I am the right person to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came into this role for one simple reason and it\u2019s because I\u2019m very passionate about this game.<\/p>\n

I do believe that we are on the cusp of something quite spectacular here<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably a large number of my friends and family who would be quite happy if I didn\u2019t do it any longer. But I do believe that we are on the cusp of something quite spectacular here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a unique moment in time because of the financial challenges, because of the working relationship with Premiership Rugby, our ability to change that relationship around the partnership, to fix the things that have stopped us winning Six Nations on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work that we\u2019re doing in World Rugby around Nations Cup, the global calendar \u2013 that all plays into this as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that I have the energy, I\u2019ve got the passion and I\u2019ve got the desire to see this through. Now if somebody else thinks differently about that, that\u2019s also equally fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t wake up every morning enjoying it, but that\u2019s the reason why I would like to carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sweeney was accused by a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing last November of being \u201ccompletely asleep on the job\u201d and told that he should consider resigning in response to the financial crisis that led to Wasps and Worcester entering administration.<\/p>\n

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The Twickenham chief has promised structural reform \u201cto fix a number of issues that have been broken for some time\u201d, thereby ending the \u201cboom and bust periods when it is more based on hope\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sweeney confirmed that negotiations are proceeding for 25 England players to be placed on \u2018hybrid contracts\u2019 that would give Borthwick more control of his most important internationals.<\/p>\n

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