Nigel Gillingham took over as president of the RFU a year ago. Photo: Shutterstock/Dan Sheridan
When Nigel Gillingham took over as Rugby Football Union President a year ago, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. During his tenure: three Premier League clubs went bankrupt; the dismissal of the head coach of England 10 months before the World Cup; and a community revolt against the reduction in tackle height.
But both the RFU and Gillingham, a longtime board member, former RAF group captain and second row striker in Leicester, have weathered the storms. and may even have taken some steps forward for the common good.
Of course, Gillingham, sitting in one of Twickenham's luxurious hotel rooms, is of this opinion. As president, he is aware of what is happening on the board of the RFU, but does not take a seat; he is the head of the council of the RFU, the “house of commons”, which oversees the work of the “cabinet” council. Unwilling to shy away from any shortcomings, Gillingham is adamant that a bright future lies ahead for English rugby.
“You never want those falls,” he tells Telegraph Sport. “But there were fewer downs than ups. And all the falls were great opportunities that we should take advantage of. If we take the death of these three clubs. It's clear you don't want to lose clubs of this magnitude because of our presence, but it helped by bringing people together to develop a new Pro Gaming Partnership.
“Everyone understands that we must get to the point where elite club play will be sustainable for the future without destroying some of the great things that are important to rugby; the ability to move up and down the leagues.
“In regards to the grip height, first of all, it was absolutely correct, based on the scientific data that was provided to us. I think what we've learned from this is that as a union we should be better able to participate in the wider game. During the consultation we prepared, we started this process.
“Players will need empathy towards match officials and vice versa, as well as coaches and spectators. Evidence from France and New Zealand – the former having had it for three or four years, and the latter just this season – suggests it's a safer game. There are fewer shocks. Now we'll have to prove it over the next few years.”
With everything that's happened this year, Gillingham admits that mistakes were made; but the President remains level-headed. The only way to get better is to look ahead. This rationale is used to explain the dismissal of Eddie Jones last November.
“I spoke at Bishop's Stortford RFC the weekend before the review,” Gillingham recalls. “I said I didn't know the result because I wasn't part of the review committee, but you have to admit that Eddie had the best result in history as an English coach. But is it acceptable that England be booed off the pitch, as they were against South Africa last autumn? The decision was made, I was not in the commission; all I can say is that being with the England team in the Six Nations was like a breath of fresh air and actually listening to the players, Steve [Bortwick], Kevin Sinfield and others, optimism for the future.” .
Gillingham says the arrival of Steve Borthwick and Kevin Sinfield to the England squad is &# 39;a breath of fresh air&# 39; Credit: Getty Images/Alex Davidson
Last month, Gillingham's predecessor, Jeff Blackett, spoke exclusively to Telegraph Sport about how he believes the increased power of the RFU board “has reduced rugby knowledge and experience at the highest levels of government.” Gillingham does not agree, although he believes that a review of the decision-making structure in the RFU is overdue.
“Jeff has his own views and is entitled to them,” says Gillingham. “I must admit that I disagree with him on diversity and speaking of how it diluted our knowledge… I don’t think that is true in the board – and certainly not in the board. It is absolutely right that we should check whether we are recruiting the right people for policy-making and decision-making bodies. We haven't done it properly since the UK Sports Governance Code was introduced in 2017 – that was six years ago. This needs to be done.
“Let's take a board. It has 12 members, three of which are former internationalists. There are four more who are elected by the council from the community game. So that's seven out of 12. We have an independent chairman and independent directors who bring different skills that people on the board might not have. For example, they may have excellent financial acumen. Polly [Williams] was the chief financial officer of M&S; Yasmine Diamond has done a lot in the world of corporate communications. They bring different skills to the board, which is exactly what you need.
“The Council is well represented in terms of constituent bodies, but again, we need a more diverse group. What we need to do is try to reflect society – that's why inclusion and diversity are so important. It doesn't dilute us, it helps us. We always want to be more inclusive because it increases diversity, which increases the number of participants; be it fans, players, coaches or referees. And this goes across the spectrum: gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. It should be good for the game, right?”
Twickenham's experience as a stadium is also subject to review and possible reform as the RFU enters a state of massive change. At the top of the list of updates is PGP, a long-term professional rugby partnership that should be aligned with the Premier League and RFU in due course.
“The vision for this is to beat England in the world. teams and thriving professional leagues built with a fully optimized system in collaboration with our players,” says Gillingham.
“We're not just talking about the Premier League. We need to think about how to develop the Championship, because it must also be sustainable. We need to make sure that all our talents have the opportunity to play regularly – this is one of the problems at the moment. Our growing talent doesn't play rugby enough.
“We've had fantastic investors—Nigel Ray, Bruce Craig, Steve Lansdowne and others—and we thank them for that. I'm not sure that the next generation of such investors already exists … we have to find them. To make people really want to invest in our professional club system.”
In the 12 months that end on Monday, the RFU president has moved him from Norwich to Newton Abbot and on to Newcastle, as well as New Zealand for the Women's World Cup. joy. Giving back to the sport that gave him so much; and this, he believes, will continue for many more years.
“There will always be something to worry about. You always need to be … not on the alert, but to think about the situation. Not everything will go smoothly,” reflects Gillingham. “It’s likely that at the height of the capture there will be something that we didn’t even think about – unforeseen consequences. In fact, we're now doing “war games” about this: “What if this and that happens?” That's all you can do. But I think the RFU is in a pretty good place. It doesn't mean we're all right, but we do have plans for a number of things… the future is pretty bright.”
It may seem hard to believe now, but if Gillingham's resolve has spread throughout the corridors of Twickenham , then he may very well be right.
Recent Comments