Beaumont to be interim RFU chair as Ilube steps down

Sir Bill Beaumont's eight-year stint as chair of World Rugby came to an end last month

Tom Ilube has stepped down as Rugby Football Union chairman amid controversy over the organisation's executive bonuses, with Sir Bill Beaumont appointed as interim chair.

Ilube's departure pre-empted the possibility of a grassroots rebellion forcing him out over the scale of bonuses.

Former World Rugby chair Beaumont, 72, has stepped in pending the appointment of a permanent replacement.

Ilube, who was appointed in August 2021, faced the possibility of a vote of no confidence in his leadership as a motion to sack him gathered support among England's community clubs.

However, a group of co-opted members of the RFU Council - appointed to make the governing body more inclusive - have expressed their "anger and distress" Ilube has been "forced out", blaming "bullying, entitlement and elitism".

In a scathing email sent to the Council's full membership on Friday - and seen by the BBC - they claimed the game had "lost a champion of our sport and importantly for us all, a leader in diversity of thought and lived experience".

Ilube was England's first black chair of a major sport.

The RFU chairman is the only permanent member of the body's remuneration committee which oversees the pay awarded to all employees on a basic salary of more than £180,000 a year.

"I have decided to step down from my role as chair of the RFU as recent events have become a distraction from the game but will stay on to ensure a smooth transition to a new chair as soon as one is in place," said Ilube, 61.

Beaumont, a Grand Slam-winning England captain in his playing days, said: "I am honoured to be taking on the role on an interim basis and would like to pay tribute to the great work and passion of Tom Ilube.

"We now must look forward and I hope I can help to unite the game and drive forward the game of rugby in England at both an international level and in the community game."

The RFU's latest accounts, published in November, revealed chief executive Bill Sweeney had been paid a total of £1.1m as the organisation posted record losses.

Sweeney was paid £430,000 in 2020 - his first full year in the role - when he took a voluntary 20% pay cut for three months and opted not to take a bonus to limit financial pressure during the pandemic.

However, a three-year incentive plan put in place in 2021, which offered the possibility of large rewards if the RFU's performance hit certain goals, sent his pay to seven figures.

The RFU's record losses came two months after it announced its latest round of redundancies.

Bill Sweeney (left) and Tom Ilube (right) at the unveiling of England men's head coach Steve Borthwick in 2022

The RFU Council - which represents the national game to the union's executive - has instigated an "immediate, independent review" into the incentive plan, which it said had done "reputational damage to the sport over the past month".

"I'm pleased that an independent review of the LTIP (long-term incentive plan) scheme has been commissioned and look forward to its findings once completed," added Ilube.

"It has been an honour to chair the RFU and I look forward to once again enjoying the game that I grew up with from the touchline and watching it grow."

In the wake of Ilube's resignation, four co-opted Council members - Matt Webb, Yemi Gbajobi, Roxy Fearon and Garnet Mackinder - sent a email to the full body, saying: "We are particularly concerned by comments and behaviours of fellow council members.

"This has felt, in no small way, like a mob out to make a point and assert authority.

"The RFU has lost a highly professional and passionate leader, who has been forced out because he does not fit the mould expected by those individuals and the echo chamber they move in. The change and uncertainty this brings is detrimental to the game.

"We as co-opted members of the Council, are deeply concerned that the recent actions set back the ability of the RFU and Council to deliver on the change it proclaims to seek".

They added their "faith" in the Council to be a "a pro-actively inclusive environment, open to leaders for our game who bring different experiences and expertise to help our sport evolve and attract new participants, is severely diminished".

Ilube and Sweeney met RFU president Rob Udwin on Thursday to "agree a way forward".

In an email to councillors on Friday - seen by BBC Sport - Udwin said he was "sorry it had come to this" regarding Ilube's resignation, adding that the crisis was a "fast-moving situation".

Proposers of a motion to remove Ilube and Sweeney have claimed they have enough support to force a vote of no confidence by the end of February.

A two-thirds majority would have been required to force Ilube from his role and will be needed to request the directors dismiss Sweeney.

Beaumont's appointment is still to be ratified by the RFU Council.

The Community Clubs Union - a group of grassroots clubs campaigning for change - said it was "delighted" Ilube had left his role, but that the appointment of Beaumont was "equally frustrating" and it remains "highly concerned at the governance and accountability still within English Rugby".

It said it would be writing to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to "ask for her help in pushing for change that will benefit the whole game of rugby union".

Analysis - 'Sweeney still under microscope'

BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones

Given the backlash from various parts of the game since the release of the RFU annual report almost four weeks ago, Ilube's position had been under scrutiny to the point of being untenable.

Ilube joined the union to much fanfare in 2021 given his highly impressive CV but he ended up being fairly inconspicuous in the role. It's hard to remember an RFU chair who kept such a low public profile.

The RFU board met on Friday morning with chief executive Bill Sweeney's position still under the microscope. However RFU sources have told BBC Sport that Sweeney continues to have the full support of the board.