The RFU thinks it is just a PR problem!!

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.