Your rugby morning headlines on Tuesday, November 26
Townsend dismisses Tandy talk
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has shot down the possibility of Steve Tandy replacing Warren Gatland as Wales head coach.
Gatland is under immense pressure, having overseen 11 Test defeats on the bounce and Wales on the slide in the world rankings.
READ MORE: Rugby legend comes out of retirement for one game and looks in crazy shape
READ MORE: Today’s rugby news as WRU launch review into Warren Gatland and Siya Kolisi offers advice
The autumn series saw three defeats from three and with a tricky start to the Six Nations ahead, questions are being raised over the long-term future of the Kiwi in the Wales hot seat.
Tandy has been placed as favourite among bookmakers to replace Gatland if a decision was made to look away from the New Zealander but Townsend shut down talk with a blunt reply.
“He’s contracted to us, so I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said.
WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood has not dismissed the idea of Gatland moving into an upstairs role with the union.
“Speaking personally, I’d be open to that,” said Collier-Keywood. “But I’d want to wait and see what the review says and how that reports back.”
NZ media pile into Wales
Meanwhile, the verdict on Wales is in from Gatland’s home nation of New Zealand and it doesn’t make for easy reading.
On the Scott & Izzy show on Sports Nation, Scotty Stevenson and former All Black Israel Dagg piled into the head coach and Wales’ record over the past 12 months.
Fans won’t need reminding that Wales have gone a calendar year without a Test win and with the prospect of France in Paris in the opening game of next year’s Six Nations, things aren’t about to get any easier.
In an impassioned rant, Stevenson said what was transpiring in Wales was an “incredible state of affairs”.
He said: “I want to touch on Wales. They’re 0 and 12 and what intrigues me about this is there would be no other top-level professional sports organisation that would stand for that. There would be no other top-level professional sports team that would look at that kind of return and back the coach. None.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Warren Gatland, I really do, and I’ve known Warren for a long time but there’s a point now where this cabal of international coaches – Eddie Jones being the alpha male among them – who have convinced administrators that only they can ever coach international rugby, that’s it’s some sort of special club that only a few select members belong to and no-one else can have a crack.
“I’m so tired of that narrative. If Warren Gatland is the best man for the job, he’s not 0 and 12 with Wales. Sorry.
“Holding a country to ransom based on past results or the fact that it’s going to cost them an absolute arm and leg to break a contract, I think does the international game and the very country you’re coaching a disservice.
“This is an incredible state of affairs. Wales now don’t look in anywhere near resurgent. The same old argument of ‘ah look, just judge us on the World Cup’ or ‘I’ve got three years in between World Cups. We’ve got to build and we’ve got to develop’. Horse s***. Wales at the moment don’t look like they’d even get out of their pool, let alone make a run for a title.
“Wales have never looked like they’d win a World Cup.”
Dagg added that the current Wales team looked like “schoolboys” and were on a “downward spiral”.
New co-captain at Dragons
The Dragons have announced Angus O’Brien as co-captain for the remainder of the season.
O’Brien will take on skipper duties alongside Wales international Ben Carter, who is currently sidelined with a knee injury.
Three new vice-captains have also been appointed – Harri Keddie, Aneurin Owen and Matthew Screech – for the remainder of the campaign.
“The decision to appoint a new co-captain and vice-captain is all about shared experience, as we have a young team and leadership group,” said interim head coach Filo Tiatia, who replaced Dai Flanagan earlier this month.
“We want the group to keep growing in that area and the appointment of two co-captains and three vice-captains will only strengthen us.
“It’s important that anyone of those can captain this team and we grow leaders for the long-term. With the nature of the game, we will pick up injuries and so we need people to be ready to lead.
“All those selected are unique individuals who will lead in different ways and styles. But we believe there will be the right balance with how they work together.”
Thirty-year-old O’Brien is a product of the Dragons Academy system and was named player of the season for the 2022/23 campaign.
RFU chief’s huge salary
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney is to be paid £1.1million for the last financial year, despite the governing body reporting record losses and making 42 staff redundant.
The RFU’s annual report, that includes its accounts for the year until June 30, shows an operating loss of £37.9m – the highest it has recorded.
Also within the report is the remuneration for board directors which shows that Sweeney is being paid a combined salary and bonus of £742,000 as well as a one-off sum of £358,000, lifting the total to £1.1million.
Sweeney’s salary is an 8.5 per cent increase over 12 months after he was paid £684,000 in 2023.
The additional performance-based amount of £358,000 falls under the ‘Long-term Incentive Plan’, a 2021 scheme set up after the pandemic by the board and remuneration committee to recognise “the need to retain a strong and stable executive team to cover what has been an incredibly challenging three-year period”.
“During the pandemic, the executive team took deeper and longer salary cuts than the rest of the organisation along with a reduced bonus,” RFU chairman Tom Ilube said.
“The LTIP, put in place post-Covid, recognised the material and voluntary reduction in remuneration, despite an exceptional increase in workload, while also incentivising the executive team to remain in post.”
The RFU announced in September that 42 members of staff were being made redundant due to financial losses that it described as “unsustainable”.
The rise in Sweeney’s pay also comes at a time when England are underperforming on the pitch, having won five and lost seven of their 12 games in 2024.
The operating loss of £37.9million is explained by the absence of autumn fixtures at Allianz Stadium due to 2023 being a World Cup year and fewer Six Nations matches being staged at Twickenham.
However, at the equivalent point four years ago underlying losses were only £27.1million, with the increase being put down to inflationary cost rises and reduced Six Nations revenues from broadcast and sponsorship.
“Four years ago the game faced an unprecedented and unforeseen set of challenges and costs triggered by Covid,” Ilube said.
“We end this latest four-year cycle with a strong balance sheet, no debt, a robust cash position and positive P&L reserves. That is the result of strong leadership and hard work from everyone involved in rugby.”
