Sweeney's survival was no surprise but a war is being fought in English rugby | Robert Kitson

03/28/2025 09:00 AM

RFU's chief executive passes a no-confidence vote but steps towards a closed shop will stoke more discontent

As with so many of England's games this autumn the outcome remained in the balance until the final moments. Bill Sweeney and his fellow Rugby Football Union top-table occupants had to look nervously up over their right shoulders and wait like everyone else before the final numbers materialised and the result was safely bagged. Sweeney had avoided a vote of no confidence and survived to fight another day as the RFU's chief executive.

It wasn't a big surprise. Team Love It had beaten Team List It, as so often seems to happen in these sort of domestic arguments. The final margin was 206 for and 466 against with 36 abstentions and barely half the eligible stakeholders bothering to vote. Decisive in one sense, rather less so in others. Which neatly sums up English rugby's split persona just now.