Bill Sweeney has broken his silence after surviving a vote of no confidence as Rugby Football Union chief executive, saying it has “not been an easy time for me personally” in a letter sent to member clubs.
A grass-roots rebellion against the RFU was triggered by the award of a £358,000 bonus to Sweeney as part of a long-term incentive plan last year bringing his total pay to £1.1 million. This culminated in a special general meeting at Twickenham last week.
The rebels’ motion to remove Sweeney was defeated by 466 votes to 206 while the RFU also won a second motion proposing governance reform with an 80 per cent majority.
Sweeney, who did not speak once in the near 90-minute meeting, has now addressed the membership, promising to lead the process of reform.
“It has been a very challenging period for rugby off the field in England,” Sweeney said. “The division sowed by those who brought forward the original SGM motion has played out aggressively in the media and it would be remiss of me not to admit that it has not been an easy time for me personally.
“However, this role is a privilege and the scrutiny that comes with it is part and parcel of the responsibility and is absolutely right that members can hold leaders of our great sport to account in the way that played out last week.
“Ultimately this process will help us to re-engage our membership and push forward changes we have long wanted to implement and our members delivered a clear message that they wanted the leadership team we have here to get on with the job and make improvements.”
As well as changing the decision-making structures of English rugby, Sweeney has also promised to improve communications with grass-roots clubs after feedback from their roadshow events up and down the country.
“It was clear when we went and spoke directly to many of you in recent months that lots of you feel disconnected to the union; feel that your voices are being ignored and that our engagement with you is too limited,” Sweeney wrote.
The RFU has also committed to engage 100 school rugby managers to promote the sport and expand its development office network.
