The forthcoming vote on chief executive Bill Sweeney’s future may only be the first in a series of moves to dismantle the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) hierarchy, say grassroots rebels.
A motion to sack Sweeney “as soon as practicably possible” can be voted on by the RFU’s 1,200 clubs and other stakeholders from Thursday, although the result will come after a summit meeting on 27 March.
However, Paddy McAlpine, co-chair of the Whole Game Union group which coordinated the coup against Sweeney, believes English rugby union’s civil war may not be settled by the outcome.
“There is a growing number of clubs saying that the leadership at the moment is not adequate for the game in England,” McAlpine told BBC Sport.
“We are not going to go away. There will be another SGM [special general meeting], then another, and another one after that because what we want is continuous improvement and the opportunity to rebuild rugby in England – the governance, structure and funding – for the entire game.
“Not just the Premiership, not just the Championship, not just the professional level, but all the way through to grassroots rugby.”
A ‘summer of discontent’ would play out against England’s preparations to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup which begins in August.
The RFU has tabled a rival motion for March’s SGM, encouraging clubs to back its own plans to devolve power to the local level instead.
Interim chair Sir Bill Beaumont, along with Sweeney, has been touring the country in the past two months to gather support and has warned that a change of leadership risks “sending the Union into paralysis”., external
The Whole Game Union failed in a late bid to include a third motion, calling for the removal of the RFU board, which has so far backed Sweeney and will ultimately decide whether to dismiss him, should a majority vote against the chief executive.
McAlpine is also chairman of Sussex club Chichester, who play in level six of the English pyramid system.
He says his club provides 40,000 hours of youth rugby to local children, but their efforts have been hindered by cutting the network of regional rugby development officers while bonuses have been paid to RFU executives.
“Clubs now understand they have a voice, because of what has happened in the last couple of months,” he said. “Everyone is starting to understand that they just don’t have to accept that is is really difficult at grassroots rugby to provide the sport and keep it going.”
The SGM was triggered after more than 100 clubs signed a petition to debate Sweeney’s future. The mechanism is rarely used, with RFU members usually using the organisation’s annual general meeting each summer to air concerns.
The RFU is hiring rugby development officers after job losses forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, with 90 staff “regionally deployed” and 40 of 100 planned school rugby manager posts filled.
Sweeney and other RFU executives took voluntary pay cuts during the pandemic, and the bonus scheme put in place to retain them longer term was deemed “appropriate in light of the goals it sought to achieve” by an independent review.
Sweeney was paid a basic salary of £742,000 in the year up to June 2024, with his £358,000 bonus taking his total package to £1.1m.
