It does not require a degree in the science of rockets to suggest English rugby needs an upbeat end to a problematic year. If parliamentary select committee hearings now involve an element of grandstanding, this week’s stark conclusion – “failure on an epic scale” – is not something the Rugby Football Union will be keen to hear echoing around Twickenham after the national team’s final autumn Test against a pumped-up South Africa.
To some the messy financial collapse of Worcester and Wasps might appear peripheral to England’s progress under Eddie Jones and certainly to a home stadium full to the brim with 82,000 thirsty punters. The truth of the matter is that all those things are directly linked to the same conundrum, namely the split personality that continues to hold back the sport even in its red rose heartlands.
