England are set on a fresh collision course with the Celtic unions over the sharing out of Five Nations' television money from their £87.5 million agreement with BSkyB. Yesterday Twickenham declared it would contribute nothing at all or merely a token amount to the common revenue pool set up by the unions under the legally-binding Five Nations Accord.
The threat of a zero contribution will be a major surprise to Scotland, Wales and Ireland, who have been expecting a seven-figure sum from England since the controversial accord was agreed in 1997. England, who last month were briefly expelled from the championship and then reinstated after formally acknowledging the accord, believe their zero assessment will be endorsed by the independent valuer appointed to determine the share-out.
"We believe we have a very strong case for not paying anything to the other unions and if we do have to pay something it won't be very much", forecast Francis Baron, the RFU's chief executive officer, whose obstinacy over money helped precipitate England's expulsion. "The key objective is to put the new Six Nations tournament on a sound footing next year. Certain aspects of the accord need to be updated and clarified," he said.
Baron's remarks will be seen by the Five Nations committee as yet another attempt by Twickenham to shift the goal posts. And the International Board is certain to take a keen interest.
Baron said the question of sharing out Sky revenue must be resolved to the RFU's satisfaction before Italy entered the championship next February. "We also need to reach a common understanding about the contribution from the French Rugby Federation, which so far has not been involved in a share-out," added Baron, who said meetings with the other unions would be held in the next two to three weeks.
The RFU hopes to get away with a nil contribution because it expects losses of around £2.3 million this financial year, having already lost £10.3 million over the past two years.
Attacking what he called waste and lack of accountability within the RFU, Baron said his main task was to get the union "into the black" and to cut costs which had risen by over 300 per cent since rugby went professional in 1996.
Baron was especially scathing about Twickenham's failure to adopt efficient internal business practice. "There have been no monthly balance sheets, no annual business plan, no inventory control and no limits of authority set for departmental managers. "We need an action plan geared to saving £2 million a year. We must reduce our cost base and control our losses because there are severe limitations on our capacity to generate fresh revenue within the next few years," said Baron.
