David Sole

ON RUGBY’S REACTION TO THE CRISIS

The cost of the coronavirus outbreak continues to hit sport, with the RFU announcing that it was likely to cost them between £45-50 million in lost revenue over the next 18 months or so.

The new CEO, Bill Sweeney, was quick to add that they had a plan in place, not only to mitigate some of those losses but also to help clubs facing financial hardship with a £7 million relief package.

The RFU Executive are taking pay cuts in excess of 25%, with their Board fees being reduced by 75%.

England Head Coach, Eddie Jones, is also taking a 25% pay cut.

Against this backdrop, it seems slightly odd that the SRU have done little more than announce their own hardship fund for clubs, amounting to £500,000.

The SRU has to fund the salaries of both professional teams in Scotland, alongside the rest of the organisation’s employees – development officers, academy coaches, medical staff and so on.

However, Mark Dodson has come under fire for his silence, given the size of his remuneration package this year which amounted to just under £1m after long-term incentive plans kicked in.

I’m sure that the SRU Executive and Board must be scrutinising the numbers carefully to see how they might be able to reduce their costs in the foreseeable future.

If they are not, they are leaving themselves wide open to criticism.

Almost every business is being impacted by this pandemic, and first and foremost, it is a human crisis.

No one is immune from this, and I would be surprised if the SRU did not take similar measures to their counterparts down south very soon.

No one can predict how long this crisis will last. It is therefore much more prudent to take decisive action, sooner rather than later, to save the need for even more drastic measures down the line.

Such a gesture would be a great demonstration of strong leadership and duty in such an uncertain and unpredictable time.