Alex Lowe Rugby Correspondent
Senior rugby officials are discussing a
proposal to overhaul the England man-
agement structure that would result in
their next head coach being unable to
wield as much power as Eddie Jones.
Under the plan, Jones’s successor
would be held accountable by a director
of rugby and not the chief executive.
Jones will stand down as head coach
after next year’s World Cup and the
RFU is working on a plan, codenamed
Project Everest, to identify the best
candidate and most effective chain of
command. At present, Jones reports to
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive.
Conor O’Shea, the former Ireland
full back, is the director of performance
rugby but responsible for the England
pathway system developing talent
below the national team.
Jeff Blackett, the RFU president,
recommended in 2018 that Sweeney
should delegate the management of
Jones and future England head coachesto someone with rugby experience. The
proposal, rejected at the time, was
contained in a report that Blackett
wrote on the future of English rugby
before standing down as chairman of
the Professional Game Board.
Now the idea has been revived and
discussed by influential figures at
Twickenham as they prepare for life
after Jones.
Supporters of the Blackett proposal
make two main arguments. First, they
believe there has been a lack of rugbyTimes Crossword 28,301 across down Yesterday’s solution 28,300
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Increased workload is putting
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Henry Winter, page 65Burnout warning
Friday May 27 2022 | the timesNo more ‘TMS’
on long wave
Martyn Ziegler Chief Sports ReporterPesky bats 1
... Magpies 0
Martin HardyFans of Test Match Special face being
unable to tune in to the programme via
Radio 4’s long wave service in the future
after the BBC announced plans to make
it available only via digital radio or the
internet.
Followers of the ball-by-ball cricket
programme who listen via analogue ra-
dios at home or in cars are believed to
number in the tens of thousands with a
total audience for TMS reaching
four million across all platforms during
the home Ashes.
The BBC has not put a date on the
closure, but its director-general Tim
Davie also said Radio 5’s medium wave
broadcasts would cease by 2027, which
would affect other sports fans who tune
into its live output such as Premier
League and Champions League foot-
ball matches and Six Nations rugby
Continued on page 60Newcastle United may have untold
riches and limitless ambition after their
Saudi takeover but their speedy ascent
into the Premier League’s elite could be
hindered by... bats.
The club’s desire to upgrade their
training ground this summer may be
held up by the need for a bat-roosting
survey at the Darsley Park facility. An
application is in with North Tyneside
Council to upgrade a training centre
that the club’s head coach, Eddie Howe,
has said needs improvement to help
“attract world-class players”. The
submission from Newcastle states that
its training facilities “fall significantly
below the Premier League and perhaps
even Championship standards”.
Work has started on new pitches,
while portable cabins are in place on
Continued on page 64Plan to rein in Jones’s heir
expertise in the appointment and
appraisal of England coaches. “We have
had two decades of wrong decisions —
because we have the wrong person [the
chief executive] making the decision,” a
source said.
Second, they are concerned by the
influence that Jones has inside Twick-
enham, arguing he has not been suffi-
ciently held to account by Ian Ritchie,
Steve Brown and Sweeney, the three
chief executives under whom he has
Continued on page 63Next England head coach may answer to director of rugby in overhaul of RFU structure
JOHN POWELL/GETTY IMAGESFrom Alpine
bootcamp to
Paris final
Month-long pre-season
in Austria inspired
Liverpool’s journey to
tomorrow’s Champions
League showdown with
Real Madrid, special
report, pages 66-67tting
yy May 27 2022|||| ththtthtthtttthththtthththththththththtthththttthtththththththttthtthththththththtthtttththththtththththttthttttththtththtthttththtthttththtthtttthttthttthththththtthtttthtthttttthttththththththththtththtthttttthttthtthththththttttttttththtththtttthtttttththttttthththththththtthttthtttthtttttthttttttthtthtthththththththththtttttttttththhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetimesLeft to right:
Mohamed Salah,
Leighton Clarkson,
Naby Keita and
Sadio Mané*