Financial adjustment or turmoil? What’s going on at the RFU?

There is no doubt the RFU is at something of a financial cross-roads, with the union making a number of redundancies in the past few months.

In all, 62 people will or have lost their jobs, with the staff trimmed from 570 to nearer 500.

And, in a recent development, former CEO Francis Baron has been commissioned by a band of disenfranchised ex-presidents to investigate the union’s financial affairs.

The former Twickenham grandees are unhappy about cuts to the community game as well as the losses at the union in the past financial year – £7.7m in total, not helped by only having two Six Nations matches at home.

The RFU is understood to have found the conduct of the former presidents unfathomable, and is confused by Baron’s involvement, given he has not worked there since 2010.

Those at Twickenham have also questioned his understanding of the modern-day workings of the union and believe his report contains a number of factual inaccuracies.

However, the RFU balance sheet is not as healthy as it once was, with costs ballooning and income stalling.

A £220m Professional Game Agreement with Premiership clubs has stretched the finances, as has a vast increase in fees paid to England players on international duty.

Developing the east stand at Twickenham, external has run £30m over budget thanks largely, but not exclusively, to tighter and more expensive safety measures in light of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The high expense of running Twickenham, a staff head count that swelled before the Rugby World Cup in 2015, and an uncertain financial climate post-Brexit have all contributed.

While its critics claim the RFU is in financial turmoil, the union describes it as a necessary and unavoidable financial adjustment.

Either way, the RFU is not immune to the financial landscape.