- Neither England nor Wales have ever had a proper rugby position director.
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I was delighted to hear that my name had been suggested for a Director of Rugby role at the Welsh Rugby Union. But I’m sorry to disappoint people across the Severn Bridge. The answer is a resounding no!
I owe Stephen Jones of The Sunday Times a drink for encouraging me. But that is not a position in any country that interests me at the moment. I kept going.
Maybe 10 years ago it was something I liked, especially at Twickenham, but not anymore.
But Wales and Warren Gatland are in big trouble. Yesterday’s loss to Australia was their 11th straight loss. And now, with England struggling to get to the next level, there is a valid debate as to whether they should have anyone. In that position. For both countries, the answer is yes.
Neither the RFU nor the WRU have strong figures with international experience in senior positions alongside their respective managers. Gatland has a very experienced boss in Wales.
This means that the know-how he has gained from being in charge of hundreds of tests is something he has never seen or done. But even someone of Gatland’s caliber needs strong people to work with. This is especially true during these difficult times for Welsh rugby.
Even a manager of Warren Gatland’s caliber needs strong people to work with.
Wales and Gatland are suffering greatly after losing 11 games in a row to Australia.
At the other end of the experience scale, England coach Steve Borthwick has only just started playing international rugby. He has no knowledge of Gatland yet. It will come when the time is right. But there are currently no strong rugby figures in the RFU that he can rely on or rely on.
Neither chief executive Bill Sweeney nor Conor O’Shea, technically the RFU’s executive director of performance rugby, have the experience or expertise to help Borthwick. And therein lies the problem.
It is entirely of the RFU’s own making and is truly embarrassing. Sweeney clearly wants to be in charge of rugby, but he is little more than a fan with no knowledge of Test rugby.
As a result, the RFU conveniently relies on an anonymous committee for big rugby decisions. There is no reason to be anywhere near the England team unless you want to put your name and reputation on the line. This represents the cozy culture of the RFU.
The same goes for Gatland in Wales. Nigel Walker is the WRU’s Managing Director of Rugby, but it seems to me he is struggling in his role. He was completely out of his depth. Welsh rugby has not been helped by a series of off-field scandals and political problems.
Gatland are back and expected to work the same magic they achieved previously in Wales, but the landscape is now very different to what it was in the past and a different approach is needed.
It is difficult to say how important I think it is for international rugby governing bodies to have strong and transparent leadership. Something neither the RFU nor the WRU have.
It could be argued that the director of rugby role today is far more important than the head coach as it encompasses so much more than the men’s national team. This is a position that England and Wales have never taken correctly.
The RFU has no strong rugby figures that Steve Borthwick can rely on and the anonymous committee should not be anywhere near the England national rugby team.
Neither CEO Bill Sweeney nor Conor O’Shea have the expertise to help Borthwick.
The WRU should look to bring in a heavyweight character to lead their rugby operations.
I am not, but I think the WRU should consider bringing in a heavyweight character to lead the rugby operations, regardless of whether Gatland stays or not. Walker’s position appears precarious, to say the least, given the controversy surrounding the contract renewal process for Welsh women’s players.
I would urge Wales to consider the great Sam Warburton.
The best example of the success an international team can achieve by employing a strong rugby manager is South Africa. After winning back-to-back World Cups, the Springboks enjoyed unprecedented joy as Rassie Erasmus worked alongside Jacques Nienaber.
They created a system that gave full priority to the South African national aspect. Erasmus is now back as manager after Nienaber joined Leinster, but I don’t think he’s being that hands-off.
He supervises the work and delegates the work to coaches under him.
Both England and Wales can learn a lot from the way the Springboks do things.
