Money rather than glory was on some England players’ minds during a Rugby World Cup campaign apparently destined for failure even before the team left for New Zealand.
Documents compiled by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) and the Premiership clubs were leaked and published by the Times on Wednesday, showing a squad riven by infighting, concerned more about money than ambition, lacking confidence in the coaching staff and disillusioned by poor training.
The documents were never supposed to be published and the Professional Game Board (PGB), which runs elite rugby union in England, said it was “disappointing and frustrating.”
Photo: Reuters
The PGB will make recommendations to improve future England teams based on the reports to the RFU board on Wednesday.
The RFU launched an investigation to find the source of the leak after a demand by RPA chief executive Damian Hopley. Unlike the survey for the RFU, which the players don’t trust, Hopley had received a 90 percent response from the England squad based on the fact their replies would be anonymous. He was livid that trust had been broken.
“If England wants to regain its status as a respected rugby nation, it is imperative that we stop the rot at the top of the game and show some much needed integrity. What example does this set to the game? It is an absolute disgrace,” Hopley said.
England fell to France in the quarter-finals, their worst World Cup result since 1999, amid controversies throughout the tournament.
Captain Lewis Moody was criticized by RFU elite rugby director Rob Andrew for leading a senior player revolt over pay at a summer training camp.
“It led to meetings with RFU executives in the last few weeks before departure for NZ. This led to a further unsettling of the squad,” Andrew wrote. “Some of the senior players were more focused on money than getting the rugby right.”
The players even threatened not to attend the send-off dinner at Twickenham when they refused to leave the team bus unless their demands were met, according to the report.
In another incident after the loss to France, a junior squad member was disgusted to hear a senior teammate say in the changing room: “There’s £35,000 [US$54,400] just gone down the toilet.”
Andrew and Hopley agreed the lack of internal discipline split the squad.
Andrew said it began at the summer camp when “a small, but very influential group of players” were not sanctioned for poor behavior, which worsened in New Zealand. The most infamous example was backup skipper Mike Tindall, only weeks after marrying Zara Phillips, Queen Elizabeth II’s granddaughter, being caught in a compromising situation with another woman in Queenstown on a boozy night out partly paid for by the RFU.
Later, Chris Ashton, James Haskell and Dylan Hartley were picked out for allegedly harassing a female Dunedin hotel worker.
Manager Martin Johnson was criticized by some players for not doing what he promised and penalizing players for indiscretions.
“He was too loyal and that was his downfall,” one player told the RPA anonymously.
Younger members were fed up with the antics of some senior players, who also belittled them for training harder. Players picked on reputation rather than form also annoyed many.
“There was a culture where it was not cool to train hard,” one player said.
The RPA recommended all players being accountable for their actions without exception, rules being enforced from the top down, a clear policy on alcohol and curfews if necessary.
Moody’s lack of leadership, especially on the ill-discipline, was also condemned by his teammates. He has since retired from England duty.
“I am confident I did the job to the absolute best of my ability, but if some of the players thought that was not enough, I will have to learn to live with that,” Moody said on Wednesday.
The players were also critical of the training, saying it was mentally draining and lacked focus on fitness and speed. While most wanted Johnson retained — he stepped down last week — they said he was let down by his staff, who were out of date and substandard when it came to practices and game-plans.
Attack coach Brian Smith, defense coach Mike Ford, forwards coach John Wells and kicking coach Dave Alred were criticized, while scrum coach Graham Rowntree was the only one praised. One player said halves Ben Youngs and Toby Flood took over some coaching.
“To go into World Cup games not having a game-plan, any structure or clear idea of what we were going to do in attack was astonishing,” one player said.
Another added: “I can’t really believe we lasted as long as we did in the tournament. We played like crap.”
Steve Hansen, who assisted Graham Henry in coaching New Zealand to the World Cup title last month, said the publicity should prompt the RFU to overhaul its entire setup.
“Maybe this morning’s article might be that thing that suddenly says: ‘We’ve got a major problem, we have to sort it out,’” Hansen said. “You can wallpaper over a lot of cracks, but it’s not until you rip the wall down and rebuild it that you can come back and be the organization you should be. Maybe for a wee while, they’ve been papering over the cracks and ignoring them.”
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