An independent review has found the Rugby Football Union's controversial executive pay scheme, which led to the resignation of its chairman Tom Ilube, was an "appropriate remuneration structure". The bonus scheme prompted widespread criticism of chief executive Bill Sweeney, who received an extra £358,000 on top of his increased salary of £742,000, while the union posted record operating losses of nearly £40m and made job cuts. Sweeney's total income of £1.1m in the year up to June 2024 was significantly up from the £430,000 he received in the Covid-affected year of 2019-20 after being appointed in 2019. His bonus in 2024 was part of a 'long-term incentive plan' (LTIP) signed off by chairman Ilube and intended to recognise the salary sacrificed by senior leaders during the pandemic, while being linked to various parts of the organisation's performance. The review by Freshfields, which was commissioned by the RFU, has found that the structure of the LTIP "was appropriate in light of the goals it sought to achieve" and is a common tool in corporates, which has also been adopted in some other national governing bodies. It found no evidence that the LTIP was designed with the aim of "compensating" individuals for loss of income during the Covid period, despite the RFU's 2023-24 annual report stating it was.

I’ll place a small wager the spin doctors / PR gurus manage to either get this to disappear into the ether or somehow place a positive spin on this scandalous bonus after many rank and file redundancies. 

(thanks to Mr Scargill for his input with this post 😂)

Much complaining but no examples of what the RFU could do

My suggestion would be to support referees more. This is a small group of people who have a big influence on the game.

(I'm not a ref)

This devolution smacks of a distraction attempt in desperation. 

It is all about England & the Premiership.

All decisions they make will favour them other than a few sprats.

The best league in the whole of England is National 1 with a regular league fixture list which,  in general guarantees a home game every other week.

This should be the benchmark for improvements in the Championship because at the moment their league structure is all over the place, trying to make some amends via the Premiership Cup, but if press reports are to be believed, that will not involve Championship clubs next season.

The relegation and promotion unresolved issues are a disgrace. Trying to introduce criteria for getting into the Championship going forward. No funding yet the club has to pick up the bill to make any changes but even after doing the hard bit & winning the league, that is not generally enough as allegedly, a committee will make the final decision. In the case of Championship clubs, even winning the league won’t be enough. They will have to get through a play off with the bottom Premiership team with resources much higher than anyone else. Doubtless they’ll point to the fact that Ealing won at Northampton in the cup. Fair play to the Ealing, but the league is different gravy.

To add insult to injury clubs in the Championship and any other clubs, some in National 1 and the so called phoenix clubs, were given the opportunity to APPLY to join. 

Yes that’s right the clubs that had to leave the Prem due to financial reasons were also asked to apply?

Just think of it, a club previously removed from the Prem is being considered to take one of the 14 places in the Championship alongside the existing teams and the National 1 champions, although we are given to understand nothing has been decided.

Just think about that. National 1 has been magnificent and is a benchmark for all that is good about the game yet maybe only one of the clubs may join the Championship. There are 5 or 6 clubs (maybe more) in Nat 1 who would grace the Championship. 

Any new club, phoenix club etc, should start at/ near the bottom of the structure like London Welsh, Richmond & London Scottish did.

To place teams in the Championship makes a mockery of a league structure. They may have a ground but no players, coaches etc so where are they going to come from?

Reward success - not failure, so no, I have no confidence that the right decision will be made, as their basis for the right decision is based on England & the Premiership. Hence the silence and the heads in the sand hoping the problem goes away, and that the Chief Exec. through a confidence vote later this month. 

Follow the example of National 1 for how a PROPER league works & whatever you do don’t mess about with it. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few as Mr. Spock once famously said.

I am not a cynic. I am a glass full kind of guy but unfortunately past experience makes me cynical.

Prove me wrong England Rugby. Other than that everything is fine. 

Phasers on stun. Beam me up Scotty

Spot on. Totally agree. 👏👏👏👏👏👏