RFU has ‘modest reserves’ says President Blackett

FOLLOWING Nick Cain’s excellent article about RFU finances (or lack of) in last week’s TRP, Bill Sweeney and Steve Grainger “attended” the virtual AGM of the ERCA (English Counties Rugby Association) last Sunday.

Sweeney dismissed Nick Cain’s article as “totally incorrect”.

As the CEO he owes all his affiliated clubs and their volunteers and especially the grassroot clubs, an explanation.

Why is the article incorrect? Where is it wrong? Or will they stay silent as usual? We will know what to think if it is silence and distrust will continue.

Alec Jones

RFU President Jeff Blackett responds to Nick Cain’s column... THE underlying financial position of the RFU is sound and the work done to reduce organisational running costs has contributed to the RFU being able to manage the immediate impact of Covid-19 while also supporting its member clubs.

The RFU does maintain modest reserves, but it also invests to grow the game of Rugby Union in England. Without this investment there is no doubt that our game would be significantly worse off.

The RFU Council plays a key role in developing the annual business plan which guides where investments are made.

It is, therefore, wholly wrong to suggest that the RFU has “squandered its reserves”.

Nothing could be further from the truth. We are proud that all funds raised by the RFU are re-invested in the game. The RFU has contributed many millions of pounds to support the game across England, be it providing grants and loans for improvements to facilities, to providing insurance and investment in artificial grass pitches and developing the quantity and quality of coaches and match officials.

We have run programmes to introduce more schools to rugby and more recently have enabled the growth of the women’s game through programmes like Inner Warrior and the creation of the Allianz Premier 15s. We have also funded the professional game to ensure the success of English Clubs and our national teams.

The RFU Board and Council have been meeting regularly throughout this pandemic and it is clear the Board and Executive team has done an enormous amount of solid scenario planning to manage through this national crisis.

Requests for Government support are being made by multiple sporting organisations as all sports are finding the severity of the pandemic seriously challenging.

It is entirely appropriate for the RFU to be having discussions with Government on behalf of the whole game to ensure clubs at the heart of communities across England are sustained.