The problem with RFU’s handling of Six Nations review is that England fans aren’t stupid | Robert Kitson
There has been a lot of fuss in recent days about French TV directors not giving rugby fans the full picture,In that particular department, sadly, there remains a runaway market leader,To say the Rugby Football Union’s public response to England’s disappointing Six Nations campaign has failed to supply all the relevant angles is an understatement,In an ideal world, there would have been a media conference with Bill Sweeney, the RFU’s chief executive, alongside Steve Borthwick, his head coach, presenting a united, purposeful front and outlining precisely why the status quo needs preserving despite England having racked up four championship defeats for the first time since 1976,Instead, there was only a “Don’t tell ‘em, Pike” statement on email best summarised in four words: “Nothing to see here.
”There are drawbacks with this approach, the primary one being that England fans are not stupid.“England’s underperformance across the Six Nations was not the result of a singular failure or issue,” read the RFU statement.Blimey, does that imply multiple failings? In which case, in a high-performance environment, you might not expect the entire management team to be rubber-stamped in their roles through to the next World Cup.On closer inspection, the main deficiencies were seemingly “discipline, execution of opportunities and making the most of key moments”.Well, blow us all down.
Next they’ll be saying the key to winning matches is scoring more points than the opposition,Or that Test rugby is a game of two halves,Even if you don’t want to divulge all your trade secrets to the opposition the lack of transparency invites more questions than answers,It leaves everyone else to try to read between the lines of the beige-est statement since magnolia became the household paint of choice,The truth of the matter, as detailed in these pages within days of the Six Nations ending, is there was never any real appetite within the RFU to roll the dice.
Doing so, apart from anything else, would have meant wooing and parachuting in a top-class replacement at a time when the vast majority of leading candidates are contracted elsewhere.Not only can the RFU ill afford to dish out millions more in severance payments – having previously sacked Eddie Jones in the run-up to the 2023 World Cup – but the countdown to the 2027 World Cup has long since begun.Better the devil you know when you are due to run out against the world champions South Africa in Johannesburg in under two months’ time.But what happens should England go down in a heap at Ellis Park, slip up against Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and then lose again in Argentina? RFU sources insist Borthwick and co have been backed until Australia but the statement is shy of absolutely spelling that out.Maybe the tiniest bit of wriggle room is being reserved, just in case?Ultimately, though, an opportunity to reset the wider narrative has been spurned.
If Borthwick is absolutely the right man to be supreme leader – and no one disputes he is a keen-eyed technical coach – then say so.If the structure of this England setup is tip-top, shout it out loud and proud.Sometimes it feels like the biggest problem with English rugby – and why it so often struggles to add up to the sum of its parts – is less about the identity of the head coach than the clunky machinery beneath him.The big hope, of course, is that England’s sharply improved effort last time out against France in Paris, when they lost 48-46 to the champions, was a more accurate reflection of their true selves.The weight of expectation was largely absent, yes, but everyone with a pair of eyes could see the talent that exists when it is given the licence and encouragement to blossom.
Maybe it will all come good again.Few South Africans will be expecting a huge amount from the visitors at Ellis Park, a situation in which England often respond positively.Over the next 18 months, either way, the RFU will be praying for further evidence that coaches, conditioning staff and players are on the same wavelength and pursuing a gameplan that complements the squad they have.If not, Borthwick will not be the only one under renewed pressure.
‘We got a drive-by egging in Baltimore’: Super Furry Animals on making The Man Don’t Give a Fuck
Gruff was the first person I ever met who could just churn out songs – good, catchy ones. I joined his band Ffa Coffi Pawb, but by 1992 they’d split and Gruff and I were living in Cardiff, as were Bunf, Guto and my brother Cian, the other future Furries. We started out doing techno sets, and I had a little home studio where we demoed ideas for songs. Our first singer, the actor Rhys Ifans, slept on a mattress in the corner.I had this Steely Dan album, Countdown to Ecstasy
Arts Council England is focused on investment outside London | Letter
In response to recent letters (26 April) about the Arts Everywhere Fund, it is important to note that this programme was heavily oversubscribed, reflecting the acute need for capital investment across the cultural sector. We are pleased that there will be further rounds of the fund, with details to be published in the coming months.While we are always mindful of the geographic spread of the investment we make, this fund had a clear purpose: to prioritise organisations facing critical capital need. On that basis, the north received more than £40m – approximately 31% of the £128m awarded in total – supporting 45 museums, libraries and cultural organisations, the highest number of awards made to any area.Arts Council England recognises the historic imbalance in cultural funding and has been working to invest more outside London, increasing investment beyond the capital to approximately 70% of our total investment since 2022
Ittai Gradel obituary
With a doctorate in Roman religion and a university chair, Ittai Gradel, who has died of cancer aged 61, might have confined his achievements to a successful scholarly career. However, in 2008, bored with routine bureaucracy, he left his post at Reading University, and returned to his native Denmark to deal in antiquities.His disillusionment with academia was reinforced when, a few years later, he discovered that large-scale thefts had been taking place from the British Museum’s collections. At first reluctant to believe the accumulating evidence, Gradel contacted the museum in 2021 only when it became impossible to deny – and was told nothing was missing.Ill and increasingly impatient, he took his cause to the museum’s trustees, and at last the police were called
Man charged over bomb hoax after Peter Kay show evacuated
A man has been charged over a bomb hoax after a live show by comedian Peter Kay in Birmingham was stopped when a “potentially suspicious bag” was found around the venue.The Utilita Arena Birmingham was evacuated and a 19-year-old man was taken into custody, West Midlands police said on Friday evening.On Saturday, the force said: “A man has been charged in connection with the events which led to the evacuation of the Utilita Arena in Birmingham last night.“Omar Majed, 19, has been charged with false communications relating to a bomb hoax,” a police spokesperson said. “Majed, of Washwood Heath, Birmingham, has been remanded to appear before magistrates in Birmingham on 4 May
Guy Montgomery: ‘One fan took us back to his house and showed us all his guns’
Have you ever won a spelling bee?No! I don’t think I’ve entered any formalised spelling competition. When I was eight or nine, there was a guy who I used to copy during tests. We were doing a spelling test and the word was “vehicle” and he made an absolutely terrible attempt at it. I knew he’d spelled it wrong and was like, wait – have I been copying someone who’s more stupid than me this whole time?Which word do you hate the most?None! That’s crazy! I love all words. They’re just out there, doing their best
‘We have to mock the site’s insanity’: comedian Tim Heidecker on the allure of becoming Infowars’ new boss
If you’ve tuned in to Infowars over the years, you might have heard a very angry man screaming about the 2020 election being stolen for “reanimated corpse” Joe Biden, or chemicals in the water turning frogs gay, or the Sandy Hook school shooting, which killed 20 children and six staff members, being faked. Founded in 1999, Alex Jones’s Infowars has long been a platform for toxic conspiracy theories with real-life consequences, in addition to weird dietary supplements. But if the Onion has its way, the InfoWars of the future will have a very different impact.The satirical newspaper has been working for several years to take over the site, amid legal battles over Jones’s false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. Pending a Texas court’s approval, the platform could soon be in the hands of the Onion and a newly installed creative director, comedian Tim Heidecker, known for his surreal sketches and mockery of the far right
Norwegian government attacked over decision to reopen North Sea gasfields
In this budget, all eyes are on CGT. But Labor’s rumoured family trust tweaks might also help fight tax inequality | Greg Jericho
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Rugby union’s Pacific heartlands threatened by NRL spree after Moana Pasifika’s collapse
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