RFU faces calls for change after 'tragedy of human proportions' sees Jersey fold
Rugby Football Union chiefs will today face demands for change after being accused of falling asleep at the wheel as Jersey Reds became the fourth major club to fold inside a year.
Four months after winning English rugby’s second tier and a fortnight after crushing Bath in the Premiership Cup, the Channel Islanders joined Worcester, Wasps and London Irish in ceasing to trade.
The RFU sought to blame the club’s investors for taking “decisions at this early point in the season to place the club in such a position”. But that was met with contempt both from Reds chairman Mark Morgan and Simon Halliday, the former England star turned Championship boss.
Both pointed the finger firmly at the Union, with Halliday shocked to not even be contacted by blazers at Twickenham.
“To say I was disappointed would be the wrong word,” he said, “disassociating” himself from the RFU statement. “We are dealing with a tragedy of human proportions.
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“I’m personally devastated by the news because Jersey are our standard bearers. But there’s knock-on effects to the rest of the clubs and the rest of the game which we need to manage together.
England undergo a stress test as part of their training camp in Jersey last October (above) and (below) in the water off St Brelade's Bay Beach
(The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)“Today we don’t want to over-analyse it. It’s about dealing with the human consequences of something that was absolutely avoidable.
“We knew this was an issue. It hasn’t come as a bolt from the blue. I warned the RFU of the risks, particularly relating to Jersey. I formally warned them.”
The RFU board are already facing an internal revolt from council members accusing it of “providing insufficient leadership, controls, and scrutiny over the performance of the RFU executive”, headed up by Bill Sweeney and Tom Ilube.
Championship chairman Simon Halliday (PA)That pressure will only ramp up in Friday’s council meeting at a time when focus should be on England’s challenge for the World Cup.
Halliday added: “Sometimes when you issue warnings and they get ignored and then the reality hits you, the pressure for change becomes very strong.
“Others may take the view this was always going to happen and we need to just accept it and move on. I’m not one of those people.”
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney (Getty Images)Championship clubs have lived with financial uncertainty since the pandemic when teams had their funding cut from £600,000 to around £160,000.
Morgan said the division had been “left in the dark” since the end of last season when “it appeared there was a viable way forward” for the second tier.
This, he added, had led to a “growing fatigue among those who may have invested but could not be given any concrete assurance about when the new structure would come in or how it would be funded”.
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Billy Vunipola and Joe Cokanasiga train with England at Jersey Reds RFC 11 months ago (The RFU Collection via Getty Ima)The reality of that hit home at first light when Jersey’s players awoke to a text advising them of a 7.30am meeting at which the news was broken.
A club that only last October hosted England’s autumn training camp in its impressive facilities, was no more - though the RFU insist it has yet enter any formal insolvency process.
England defence coach Kevin Sinfield said: "We send our best wishes to everyone connected with Jersey: players, coaches, staff, supporters, sponsors, it is a really sad time for the game.
England defence coach Kevin Sinfield (Getty Images)"We saw it on a couple of occasions last season and it is not good, not good for anybody. We hope there is a plan put in place for those guys and everyone involved."
Director of rugby Harvey Biljon said players risked being “stranded” on the island without funds to get back to the mainland.
“We were led to believe we were in a position of strength,” said shellshocked head coach Rob Webber. “Financially secure, building until the leagues restructured, then we’d make our move!
“Then we find out over night that it has all been a lie? From champions to this…. “
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