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The RFU thinks it is just a PR problem!!

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JZSmith View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JZSmith Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2025 at 12:59
Originally posted by Big Eddie Big Eddie wrote:

Attending yesterday's Caldy v Nottingham Championship fixture enabled me to chat about the RFU's stance with a number of people way closer to the action than I am. I was somewhat dumbfounded to learn that the executive branch of the RFU really do believe the current schism in the game is down to poor communication by the executive branch and the remedy is within their hands through better PR.

It beggars belief..........who an earth do these people think they should be accountable to? 

Like all second rate politicians they seem to believe they can fool all of the people all of the time!

If anyone has real evidence how much money the executive are pi**ing away on fees to management consultants, PR advisors and media bol**cks please do let us know.

I totally understand your point Eddie but I really don't believe many people can be dumbfounded by their total lack of awareness can they?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Big Eddie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2025 at 16:26
Originally posted by JZSmith JZSmith wrote:

I totally understand your point Eddie but I really don't believe many people can be dumbfounded by their total lack of awareness can they?

I was one such person because in my cynicism I didn't for one minute think that Beaumont, Sweeney and the rest of the Executive Board really considered that the open rebellion (which of course has existed for years but has not been sufficiently well organised) was all down to poor communication and a bit of spin, PR and a glad handing roadshow would get everything back on track.

Well blow me down with a feather, from one of the conversations I had with an insider it seemed possible that the Executive may actually believe this total bol**x ........it isn't their actions that everyone is outraged about .......it is just a reaction to how poorly they have put it all across.

If the Executive really does believe this they are stupid beyond belief......another view could be that the Executive have picked off 13 or so community clubs to be the beneficiary of a bit of glad handing by the nation's favourite lock forward and this will quell the rebellion ........what planet are they on?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Camquin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2025 at 17:06
I don't think that they think that at all.
But I think that they think they can spin it that way.
Most clubs are so busy struggling to survive, so they have not engaged with the rebellion.

If they can say, look, we went on a consultation exercise, and after we explained it, only 200 voted against us - they can then spin that as there is nothing to worry about - they can claim the other 1500 or so back them, even if they have abstained or simply sent in blank proxy forms.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FHLH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Jan 2025 at 17:35

.................and with one meeting on the morning, seven in the afternoon and only 4 in the evening, who can say that these are truly accessible? Confused


"My father told me big men fall just as quick as little ones, if you put a sword through their hearts."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JZSmith Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Yesterday at 12:20
Originally posted by Big Eddie Big Eddie wrote:

Originally posted by JZSmith JZSmith wrote:

I totally understand your point Eddie but I really don't believe many people can be dumbfounded by their total lack of awareness can they?

I was one such person because in my cynicism I didn't for one minute think that Beaumont, Sweeney and the rest of the Executive Board really considered that the open rebellion (which of course has existed for years but has not been sufficiently well organised) was all down to poor communication and a bit of spin, PR and a glad handing roadshow would get everything back on track.

Well blow me down with a feather, from one of the conversations I had with an insider it seemed possible that the Executive may actually believe this total bol**x ........it isn't their actions that everyone is outraged about .......it is just a reaction to how poorly they have put it all across.

If the Executive really does believe this they are stupid beyond belief......another view could be that the Executive have picked off 13 or so community clubs to be the beneficiary of a bit of glad handing by the nation's favourite lock forward and this will quell the rebellion ........what planet are they on?

The same one as Donald Trump, Elon Musk and a good few of our own politicians who seem to think they can say utterly ludicrous things and be believed?

I fear that particular planet is gaining more residents by the day! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Breakdown Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 9 minutes ago at 15:53
Judging by Mr Sweeney's performance on the 90-minute platform he was given by the Good the Bad and the Rugby podcast, he does think it is about poor communications - and dumped several times on his communications director - who is leaving in May and has already collected her six-figure LTIP so she is OK, don't worry too much about her.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARFRgZEcjiM  There are plenty of press reports now, but also a summary here of things that may not be mentioned in those press reports.

Sweeney said there was one other group of people inside the RFU who were to blame for all the problems and that was....The Board and his Executive Directors! No, of course he didn't, he said that if there was a fault in the structure of the Union, it was the Council and suggested that had to be subject to a significant governance reform. Not the Exec, not the Board who are supposed to keep the Exec in check, but the Council. Some of them, Sweeney said, should be thrown under the bus but not all. 

He implied the "rebels" were a small group - just the referees being briefed by "a couple" of Championship clubs. He was very proud of his performance and particularly the financial health and stability of the RFU (I am not making this up), but the rebels were making stuff up. The podcast host heaped praise on Wayne Barnes for the factual accuracy of his criticisms of the rebels, but, weirdly, both the host, Alex Payne, and Mr Sweeney forgot to point out that Mr Barnes is a member of the Board that he was defending from criticism. 

Mr Sweeney referred to dealing with the "disgruntled" and "disaffected" ginger group as getting down into "the swamp and the mud-slinging". So there you have it. He is right. If you disagree, you are wrong and you are a swamp-dweller. Oh yes, there is some unhappiness in the community game, but that is because they don't understand how bright the future is and how he is committed to keeping the same levels of investment (£30m, don't worry about inflation, that doesn't apply to rugby clubs, does it?) over the next few years. 

And asked to give examples of the game acting in union under his tenure, he offered: the "JV" they are putting together with the Premiership (and CVC) and, er, the Nations Cup. 

It's worth a listen if you don't value 90 minute of your time as you learn exactly how brilliant Mr Sweeney has been since taking over. 
Broken down. Beyond repair.
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