England face acid test in New Zealand
IAN Ritchie likes the phrase: “God give me patience, but give it to me now.”
The Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) chief executive needed it during torturous, but successful, talks to save the game’s European Cup. Forbearance and frustration have also shaped the emotions of England’s followers down the years.
Towards the end of another season of expert conflict resolution, Ritchie is seeing his reforms of the RFU reach fruition, with a mellow, collegiate mood inside Twickenham, a revamped Champions Cup in place for Europe and a three-test tour of New Zealand in June speeding towards Stuart Lancaster’s England, who won friends and admirers (though not the trophy) in this year’s Six Nations Championship.
Forming a useful bureaucratic half-back partnership with Bill Beaumont, the RFU chairman, Ritchie can afford to watch Toulon versus Munster in the Heineken Cup today with satisfaction.
But there are no laurels around his desk. He says of England’s daunting trip to New Zealand: “We were all disappointed by the Six Nations in that we didn’t win it. But we didn’t win it because we lost in Paris. We could, should — all of those things. There are plenty of ifs in sport.
“What we’re trying to do is say: we’re aiming to beat the best. So it’s a perfect time to be going to New Zealand.
“We go with a confidence that we’re capable of winning. It was a very close game against them here, and the acid test is going there.
“It’s going back to the general theme of sustainability. If anyone has achieved that, it’s New Zealand. I believe we can be better.
“If you look back over 30, 40, 50 years, we should have done better.” This is fighting talk, from a position of new strength. “The good thing is, we’re fortunate in that economically we’re well set up to invest,” says Ritchie.
“Sam Burgess [the recent recruit from rugby league] says: ‘I want to come and play rugby for England.’ Part of the quote was: ‘I want to sit in a Twickenham dressing room for an England international.’ Fantastic.
“I’m not saying that because he’s a rugby league player. Quite the opposite. If you look at our coaching setup we have two rugby league stalwarts [Andy Farrell and Joe Lydon]. I want people to feel we’re in a good place.”
Rumbling on the horizon outside Twickenham is the 2015 World Cup, and here Ritchie parades both the facilities already in place and the drive to popularise rugby union outside its traditional heartlands.
About 1 500 state secondary schools play the game and the RFU is pushing it into 750 more, with an England team who are 13 parts state education and only two parts fee-paying.
“There’s a wonderful fourminute video of Graveney School in Tooting. They got to the semifinal of the NatWest Under-15 competition this year,” he says. “Three years ago the school wasn’t playing any rugby at all.
“Mike Brown spent some time with them. The impact of having the England fullback come and spend time with them was great.
“In the video Mike says: ‘They’ve got a lot of gas.’ Anyone can find one example. But the community rugby stuff I think is enormously important.”