Dismissal of England coaches

[Old Hob]

Curious story in today's Times about two under-18 programme coaches who were at a formal RFU dinner and each was separately asked to step outside for a chat by Dean Ryan the RFU head of international player development. Each was then told that his services were no longer required and neither returned to the dinner. The Times says the pair have successfully run the programme for a decade.

[jgriffin]

Curious story in today's Times about two under-18 programme coaches who were at a formal RFU dinner and each was separately asked to step outside for a chat by Dean Ryan the RFU head of international player development. Each was then told that his services were no longer required and neither returned to the dinner. The Times says the pair have successfully run the programme for a decade.

As some of us won't pay Murdoch, any chance of a cut 'n paste?

[Old Hob]

That's basically it. The two coaches are called John Fletcher and Peter Walton and they joined the RFU in 2008 from Newcastle Falcons. They are credited with key roles in developing Farrell, Itoje and the Vunipola brothers and are said to have helped 28 players to achieve full England honours. An RFU spokeswoman said; "We are in discussion with John Fletcher and Peter Walton about their roles within the performance pathway and have no further comment until these discussions are complete."
Which is an odd statement as the Times is certain they've both been sacked in that rather bizarre manner.

[BarmyBamford]

Also in Telegraph, no more info, just sacked.

[ourla]

Telegraph Sport understands that Dean Ryan, who arrived at the RFU as head of international player development almost two years ago, was the chief influence in the decision to let the pair go.

Ryan, effectively in charge of England’s prolific age-group production line, has already engendered significant change since the start of the 2016 season.

Under his watch, ex-Saracens academy boss Don Barrell was brought in as head of regional academies last July. Also, as of this year, the England Under-16 team has been abolished in order to widen the catchment area and allow greater scope for late developers to flourish.

However, this latest news regarding Fletcher and Walton has confused and saddened the duo’s former RFU colleagues, their protégés and even some of Jones’ backroom team. RFU staff are already facing mass redundancies but this is thought to be a separate matter.

Yesterday, an RFU spokeswoman said: “We are in discussions with John Fletcher and Peter Walton about their roles within the performance pathway and have no further comment until these discussions are complete.”

[chris111]

Curious story in today's Times about two under-18 programme coaches who were at a formal RFU dinner and each was separately asked to step outside for a chat by Dean Ryan the RFU head of international player development. Each was then told that his services were no longer required and neither returned to the dinner. The Times says the pair have successfully run the programme for a decade.

Notwithstanding anything that led to this, it’s not a good way to deal with employees. Macho management at its worst - I hope they take out unfair dismissal cases.

[BFG]

Agree with comments and if true it's not the best way to deal with employee's but is this the start of a realisation that the current system has contributed to breeding some of the most average England players ever!
I mean the depth of what they have got is great but the quality is not.
I watched the U20 last night totally aghast that they had young props chasing their own feet at scrum time, chasing feet is about weight and is something that they'll have absolutely no advantage in when they return to their clubs and is no way to learn to scrummage properly, when it comes to strength and technique they'll be starting all over again against good mature scrummagers.
It's just one example but in development terms what they seem to encourage often shocks me!

[G.K]

Not the way to to terminate someone's employment after 10 years whatever the reason. Sums up the RFU - unprofessional!

[JP14]

Even 20 years on, the RFU is still run by a bunch of old farts!

[westwinds31]

Not the way to sack anyone but we clearly know not much about the detail. Bringing through a few players from U18 to full International is great but have those coaches been in place for too long now and it’s time for a change, freshen things up maybe ? I’m sure that they’ll be snapped up by clubs or at international level, given their CVs to date.

[ellis9]

As no information has been given, how do we know they haven't done something which is a sackable offence?

[jgriffin]

As no information has been given, how do we know they haven't done something which is a sackable offence?

Because it wouldn't be done at a dinner then, since there is a proper procedure to avoid messy litigation later.

[Old Hob]

As no information has been given, how do we know they haven't done something which is a sackable offence?

I thought this. And if I were given information that showed a certain kind of misconduct with young people I would sack people instantly wherever we were at that moment. However, there has been nothing to suggest that is the case. Furthermore, the RFU says it is considering their futures.

[RagingBull]

Ryan has a bit of a rep for doing stuff like this doesn't he?

[Chobbsy]

Curious story in today's Times about two under-18 programme coaches who were at a formal RFU dinner and each was separately asked to step outside for a chat by Dean Ryan the RFU head of international player development. Each was then told that his services were no longer required and neither returned to the dinner. The Times says the pair have successfully run the programme for a decade.

RFU are to make 100 job cuts across the board, all RFU staff have been put at risk