Ian Ritchie, the RFU chief executive, stood accused of a potential whitewash of England’s failed Rugby World Cup campaign last night after he revealed a five-man review panel that features only one independent figure.
Ben Kay, a World Cup-winner in 2003 and The Times’s rugby analyst, would appear to represent the only outside influence on a panel that has been given the task of reviewing the England coaching staff, the team’s World Cup preparations and their tournament performances.
Ritchie will lead the review, despite being the man who appointed Stuart Lancaster as head coach in 2012, promoted him to become head of international performance in 2013 and awarded all the England coaches six-year contracts in 2014.
Ritchie will be joined by Sir Ian McGeechan, who was involved in the panel that recommended Lancaster for the job in 2012. He has said that England are unlikely to find a coaching team any better than Lancaster, Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell.
Ian Metcalfe, who is chairman of the Professional Game Board, and Ian Watmore, the former FA chief executive and a board member of England Rugby 2015, complete the panel, and both are closely connected to Ritchie.
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“It is shocking to see Metcalfe and McGeechan [on the panel]. They cannot possibly be independent,” a senior rugby source told The Times.
Will Greenwood and Lawrence Dallaglio questioned why Sir Clive Woodward, who coached England to victory at the 2003 World Cup, was not involved in the process, although Kay’s involvement as “a different set of eyes” was welcomed.
“From the outside what you see is samey, samey,” Greenwood said. “The same group making potentially the same mistakes. Haven’t they learnt to bring in people?
“Ben Kay is forthright, knows his onions and was there in 2007, so he has been through a time when England had issues. Clive is the elephant in the room. I’d have him there all day long.
“If you’re asking for people to have a whiteboard and you want a dynamic group of people to come in and go, ‘Right, what’s wrong, what can we do?’ then Woodward should be in the room.”
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Dallaglio tweeted: “Sir Clive Woodward? Am I the only one who thinks that’s very odd? He’s English, done the job already and won the rwc?”
Ritchie said before the World Cup that he would take responsibility if England failed, but he has since changed his tune and stated that the review will focus on the performance department only.
There will be no examination of the structure of English rugby, the club-country agreement that underpins England’s access to the elite players or the RFU’s policy not to select players based in France.
Ritchie has refused to answer any questions on the review process since the day after England were eliminated, but he did issue a brief statement.
“While the RFU will be focusing on continuing to deliver a fantastic tournament, it is hugely disappointing not to have progressed through to the knockout stages,” he said. “With that in mind, we have begun to review the senior team’s campaign to ensure that we learn and improve from this experience in order to be consistently successful.
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“There will be extensive input from players, coaches and management staff, as well as an external perspective gathered. The details of this feedback will remain confidential, with recommendations then made to the RFU board.” That meeting is scheduled for November 17.
McGeechan has been an ally and adviser to Ritchie since he took charge of the RFU in 2011. McGeechan was on the selection panel that recommended Lancaster as head coach in 2012, when Ritchie is believed to have been erring towards Nick Mallett. The year after, McGeechan and Peter Keen were tasked with undertaking a review of England’s elite structure that concluded Lancaster should be appointed head of international performance.
The morning after England were knocked out of the World Cup, McGeechan wrote in his newspaper column: “England have a strong coaching team in Lancaster, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree. I cannot see anything better out there which is readily available.”
England sources argue that McGeechan’s presence, along with Kay’s intimate knowledge of the game, will be ideal for examining the selection and coaching issues.“There is no one better to look at that,” a source said.
It has been suggested that the reason senior international figures — coaches such as Graham Henry, Eddie Jones or Wayne Smith — were not involved in the review is that one of them could end up being part of the solution.
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The chosen few
Ben Kay
The former England lock won the World Cup in 2003. One of the most respected analysts in the game.
Sir Ian McGeechan
Won two Lions tours as head coach. Was on panel that recommended Stuart Lancaster as England coach.
Ian Watmore
The former chief executive of the Football Association, who serves on the board of England Rugby 2015.
Ian Ritchie
Appointed Lancaster as permanent England coach in 2012 and awarded him a six-year contract in 2014.
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Ian Metcalfe
Chairman of the Professional Game Board.