SIR CLIVE WOODWARD's 10 wishes for 2025: How to get England playing rugby from the gods, a World Cup win and how RFU should spend Allianz's £100m
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The past 12 months haven’t been the easiest for English rugby — and that’s putting it mildly!. 2024 will unfortunately be remembered as a year of underperformance for the men’s national side on the field and for a bonus scandal off it. So as we look forward to the new year, here are my 10 wishes for 2025 — both in England and across the world….
![[RFU chair Tom Ilube paid the price for the bonuses row that has engulfed the governing body]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93644777-14241461-RFU_chair_Tom_Ilube_paid_the_price_for_the_bonuses_row_that_has_-a-4_1735767736476.jpg)
Last year will be remembered for underperformance from the men's national team. 1. RFU must step up. The RFU has to move on from the scandal that has enveloped it. Tom Ilube has paid the price for the row over extortionate bonuses being paid to the governing body’s top brass and I have zero sympathy for him.
![[Chief executive Bill Sweeney needs to step up in January or he will have to face the music]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/14/93644781-14241461-image-a-3_1735740423184.jpg)
Whether Bill Sweeney, the chief executive, stays or goes will dominate discussion. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. My last column made clear the need for the RFU to be more transparent, honest and accountable. Sweeney and new interim chairman Bill Beaumont need to front up in person or they really will face the music in January.
![[The RFU should invest in development officers with the £100m earned from their Allianz deal]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/14/93645005-14241461-image-a-12_1735741277632.jpg)
English rugby needs to step forward from this before the Six Nations else the sideshow will be a huge distraction. We will soon find out if Sweeney and Beaumont are the right men to lead. 2. Bring back the game’s backbone. The reason the eye-watering bonuses for RFU big wigs was so controversial was because it came at a time when the organisation was announcing a loss of £37million and making 40 employees redundant.
![[England host the Women’s World Cup in 2025 and the RFU must make stars of the players]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/14/93644807-14241461-image-a-4_1735740516087.jpg)
