Matt Williams: Rugby’s rulers are ruining our beautiful game

This week the British parliament’s Digital, Cultural, Media and Sport select committee (DCMS) handed down a damning summary of the English Premiership’s governance procedures and the precarious state of the English game’s finances in the aftermath of the implosions at Worcester Warriors and Wasps.

The DCMS report stated that the financial collapse of the Warriors was “a stain on the reputation of the sports authorities”. The report described the owners of the Warriors as “unscrupulous” and accused them of “attempting to asset strip the club”. The committee added that “one of the most striking facets of the problems at Worcester Warriors was the lack of due diligence undertaken regarding its owners”. The DCMS also blamed poor governance for Wasps’ ill-advised decision to move from their historic London base to Coventry.

With attendances declining across the Premiership the committee also warned of the huge debt burden being carried by the English clubs with a staggering average of £4 million of debt per club per season, all with a “lack of safeguards”. The hubris of the English club owners attempting to buy success was laid bare.

The DCMS acting Chair, Damian Green MP, said the RFU and Premiership Rugby had shown “inert leadership and mismanagement”.

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In other words, a lack of governance.

At the same time down under Eddie Jones fulfilled his ultimate long-term plan and returned to where his heart beats fastest, as head coach of the Wallabies. Jones is a big name in Australia and as Rugby Australia continues to try to recover from the brink of bankruptcy in 2021, the game in Oz needs all the high-profile publicity it can get and Eddie fits that bill. While I believe that Eddie will be a great success, I feel for Dave Rennie, who had his contract cut short.

While the desire for an Australian to lead the Wallabies has been humming in the background for many years, Jones’ appointment is also a bold statement supporting older, experienced coaches.

Poor governance in the game has seen the appointment of far too many inexperienced coaches, which has almost dismantled the concept of intergenerational knowledge being handed down within the game. The appointment of coaches directly from the playing ranks, with little or no coaching experience, has led to a type of intellectual group think at many clubs.

An age-diversified coaching staff with meaningful mentoring from experienced coaches to the next generation inspires cross-generational learning which is essential to the long-term success of a club. Just look at Leinster.

The lack of understanding of the need for multigenerational coaching wisdom within a coaching staff sits squarely on the shoulders of those charged with appointing coaches. After a perceived failure, far too many coaches are tossed aside. As Stuart Lancaster has displayed in wonderful abundance, failure in one environment can be a lesson and does not mean it is impossible to be successful in another.

It is not only intergenerational knowledge and finances where rugby’s governance is failing.

[ Gerry Thornley: Declining attendances a major concern for rugby ]

A major factor in the decline of men playing the game across the rugby world is the lack of a science-based response from World Rugby to the grave fears that the high-profile concussion legal cases have brought into the rugby community. That fear has been fuelled by lawyers – who will benefit financially - and journalists, who seek sensationalism.

Instead of confronting the real problems of brain injury with factual medical research, World Rugby has done precious little to communicate any medical science-based evidence to counter the narrative from the journalists and lawyers, who continue to set an agenda of deep fear surrounding concussion.

This fear is stopping parents from allowing their children to play rugby.

The fact that the number of bums on seats at games is also declining is not the fault of the players or coaches. The laws as they stand are a major factor in the English Premiership’s catastrophic financial problems because the product that World Rugby is attempting to sell across the global sporting market is not capturing the public imagination. Put simply, this is because there is not enough entertaining rugby being played.

When the ball is in play rugby remains one of the most captivating and gloriously entertaining sports. It is a sensation to play and a joy to watch, with a never-ending series of life lessons for everyone involved.

The true essence of the rugby product remains exceptionally powerful. The turn-off for the sporting public is that for long periods of time, in far too many games, we have 30 players standing around doing absolutely nothing.

For 58 minutes of the Wallabies and Springboks test match in Adelaide that is exactly what happened. Coincidentally, the average time the ball is in play in a match of Australian rugby league, which is a game totally focused on providing entertainment, is 58 minutes.

While the overwhelming majority of rugby people around the world are screaming for change to the laws, those in charge of the laws within World Rugby refuse to budge.

The minor alterations to the laws recently announced by World Rugby have been an embarrassingly shallow attempt to quiet the roaring discontent from the rugby masses. Many, including myself, predict that the intended impact of the latest law changes will be unsubstantial in providing more time with the ball in play.

[ Matt Williams: World Rugby’s meagre list of law reforms wholly inadequate ]

The outmoded laws, combined with the authoritarian, whistle-everything approach that our referees are officiating with, sits at the heart of why supporters are deserting the game. Rugby, when it allowed to be played, is superb but the lack of play is stupefying.

It appears that those whom we have entrusted with the stewardship of our beautiful game are instead tormenting and diminishing it. As the Kiwis say: “A fish smells from the head.”

Governance is simply a form of leadership. Something that is deeply lacking in many boardrooms at the head of our game.