Fears over inquest into Lancaster
ENGLISH rugby has left itself open to accusations of a whitewash over the inquest into England’s World Cup failure after appointing a review panel lacking truly independent figures. Ian Ritchie, the RFU’s embattled chief executive, will chair a panel comprising former Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan, 2003 World Cup-winner Ben Kay, Ian Metcalfe, chairman of the RFU’s professional game board, and Rugby World Cup 2015 board member Ian Watmore. Their brief is to assess England’s preparations for and performances in the World Cup, and the efforts of the management and support staff. It is a narrow focus. Ritchie had said the buck would stop with him if England fell short of expectations. Yet his role will not be under official scrutiny, despite the fact that he appointed Stuart Lancaster and his assistants — Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt — and last year agreed to give all four six-year
From Back Page contract extensions. Just before the tournament, when asked about the worst-case scenario of England failing to deliver, he said: ‘You’re the one that takes responsibility for it because, if you’re the chief executive, you have to look at that. I appointed Stuart. I was the one who believed he was the right person for the job.’
Yet, now that this doomsday scenario has come to pass, Ritchie has revealed himself to be a slippery politician. He has set out the terms of this review in a manner which removes himself from the firing line.
Of the other panellists, there will be misgivings about the presence of McGeechan, despite his status as a respected high statesman of British rugby. The Scot was part of the panel that appointed Lancaster in 2012 and was also involved in the review a year later which led to the England head coach taking on a parallel role as head of international performance.
Just two weeks ago in his Daily Telegraph column in the aftermath of England’s departure from the tournament, McGeechan said: ‘England have a strong coaching team in Lancaster, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree. I cannot see anything better out there which is readily available.
‘You need time to develop a winning team and Lancaster has built a strong rapport with his squad. That relationship will be important over the next 12 months. You do not throw it away lightly.’
Despite apparently supporting the status quo, McGeechan has been added to the panel who will guide the RFU in deciding if regime change is required.
A review of Lancaster’s set-up by two of the men who installed him in the post as a Test rookie will lead to reasonable claims that Ritchie and McGeechan have an interest to declare. This may be seen as a case of asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. In addition, Metcalfe was at the heart of the review into the last disastrous World Cup campaign in 2011.
At least there are two men with independence and objectivity involved in the process. Watmore is on the board of the World Cup — an offshoot of the RFU — but he is a renowned sports administrator with a track record of working on reviews of this nature. He is a respected former chief executive of the FA and previously served as Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office.
Kay (right) was a member of England’s World Cup-winning team of 2003, packing down alongside Martin Johnson in the second row.
Since retiring, he has emerged as one of the sharpest analysts in the sport, as a TV pundit with the likes of BT Sport and, during this World Cup, with ITV.
Ritchie spent the morning evading enquiries about the review at a seminar in London before an explanatory statement emerged from Twickenham just a few hours later after MailOnline exclusively revealed the identity of one of the panellists. However, the make-up of the panel has already raised alarm. Will Greenwood, another English World Cup winner, said: ‘From the outside, what you see is samey samey. The same group making potentially the same mistakes. Haven’t they learned to bring in people?’ Asked whether Sir Clive Woodward, the architect of the 2003
triumph, should have been invited to join the panel, Greenwood added: ‘Clive is the elephant in the room. I’d have him there all day long.’
That view was endorsed by Lawrence Dallaglio, who tweeted: ‘No Sir Clive Woodward? Am I the only one who thinks that’s very odd. He’s English, done the job already and won the RWC.’
The former England captain added: ‘Clearly we’ve arrived at the wrong decision quite a few times now and it’s important we arrive at the right decision now. Clive is English, has had the job before and has won the World Cup, so surely he must be qualified on how things should be taken forward.
‘But we’ll continue to ignore the one person who has actually delivered in this competition. I despair of that a little bit.’
Ritchie insisted that the review — which will lead to a report going to the Union’s board on November 17 — will ‘remain confidential’, which was certainly not the case in 2011.