Ian Ritchie, the new head of rugby in England, says the RFU needs to learn the lessons of last year’s world cup debacle and tells Keme Nzerem he believes the English game’s problems are “fixable”.
Remember 22 November 2003? I certainly do. I was flying to Spain with my wife and insisted on getting to the airport three hours early to watch England play Australia in the Rugby World Cup final.
Remember the 8 October 2011? It doesn’t have quite the same allure does it. England crashed out of the World Cup quarter finals in New Zealand after a campaign marked by pretty much anything but their Rugby. Midget wrestling. Late night boozing. And married players, ahem, innocently flirting with women late into the night.
World cup winning player Martin Johnson soon quit as manager, while leaks, feuds and serial resignations mauled Twickenham’s boardroom too.
But what English rugby has been so sorely lacking it now has – a leader. And a seasoned one at that. Ian Ritchie. Ex-Wimbledon tennis boss. Formerly on the board of the football league and Wembley stadium. Now tasked with nursing England’s sickest sports governing body back to rude health. Not a challenge for the faint hearted – but one he insists he is relishing.
“Some of the issues that came up last year – there is a recognition we don’t want to repeat those, we want to learn from those, we need to move on – and ever the optimist, I think that they are fixable,” he said.
In the long term, he must prepare for the 2015 World Cup. But there are more pressing concerns. Like finding a permanent replacement for Martin Johnson.
The RFU has already received several applications, with additional enquiries being handled by external head hunters. They understandably don’t want anyone to think they’ve got the nod because they got a personal call from the chief executive.
Names have been bandied around now for months, like South African Nick Mallett, and Irishman Eddie O’Sullivan, but it’s the Englishman in current interim charge who appears to be the man to beat. Stuart Lancaster has already salvaged some English pride with fine performances so far during the Six Nations.
“The consensus view – and that would certainly be mine”, Ritchie told me today, “is that Lancaster has done an excellent job… Everybody can see the improvements that have happened in team culture,” he said.
Part of which has been to banish the bad behaviour of old. Delon Armitage – recently arrested for assaulting a nightclub bouncer – axed. Also gone, Danny Care, arrested for drink-driving.
The main challenge – for Ritchie and whoever ends up as England manager – is how to change the very culture of English rugby. And that’s not just about how to behave when out with the lads after the game. It’s about “what are you doing when you are in your hotel room, or what are you doing when you have got your home time. That’s why team culture is extremely important.”
England expects more from its players – and its administrators. Rugby has long shed its Corinthian values. It is entertainment, it is professional, it is big business. And doesn’t the RFU’s new chief executive know it.