Sir Clive Woodward says English rugby needs a director of rugby to ensure the next men’s head coach is not selected by RFU chief Bill Sweeney, whose “knowledge of rugby is really small”.
Woodward was head coach when England won the World Cup in 2003 and, speaking on Lawrence Dallaglio’s Evening Standard Rugby Podcast, says he spoke to the RFU about taking the role again in 2011, when Stuart Lancaster was appointed in what he called a “ridiculous” process.
Woodward is concerned that there will be a lack of rugby expertise when it comes to replacing Eddie Jones next year. Jones has been in charge since 2015, when Lancaster left the role having failed to get England out of the pool at a home World Cup.
“I don’t blame Eddie or Stuart Lancaster,” Woodward said. “It’s the people who put them in there, the actual recruitment process. All those coaches, from Andy Robinson, a good friend of mine, Brian Ashton, Martin Johnson, Lancaster.
“Fundamentally, that recruitment is done by the chief executive. The two main figures in those years are Ian Ritchie and Bill Sweeney, both really good guys. My issue with them is that they are business people. There’s nothing wrong with being a business person, but their knowledge of rugby is really small.
“They are suddenly responsible for employing the England coach. My advice to both of them, and I’ve had this conversation with them — as you can imagine, it didn’t go too well — if I was CEO of the RFU, I would employ a director of rugby, who would take all this responsibility off me.
“A director of rugby who is qualified to talk about the England coaching position, how you go about selecting it and also to recommend to me and the board who that should be.”
Woodward compared Sweeney appointing a head coach to a fan being in charge. “Neither Bill Sweeney nor Ian Ritchie had the skill-set to make the right decision on who should be England head coach,” he said. “All the advice you want, but unless you are surrounded by people with the right skill-set, the chances are you will make the wrong decisions.
“I would like a director of rugby to be totally responsible if the CEO doesn’t have the skills. With these CEO roles, it’s almost like having a fan in charge. How can a fan pick the England rugby coach? I just think that’s wrong.”
