Steele axed after nine months as RFU lose confidence in chief executive

Steele, the former UK Sport boss and Northampton fly-half, had been in office for nine months and pushed through a major restructure of the RFU’s senior management. But Steele’s position was deemed untenable by the RFU board due to the way he had handled the recruitment process for England’s new performance director.

Only a fortnight ago, the RFU’s chairman Martyn Thomas issued a statement declaring Steele had the “full support” of the board – but he said the situation had changed rapidly since then.

Thomas last night explained the board’s decision had been influenced by new information from RFU staff and stakeholders, who had raised issues over Steele’s leadership.

The catalyst for the whole sorry saga was, according to Thomas, Steele’s decision to cancel Sir Clive Woodward’s interview for the performance director position.

Woodward was the only viable candidate for the job Steele had originally sold as the most high profile position in the English game.

But Steele decided to put the process on hold without discussing it with Thomas or Bill Beaumont. He sent an email which neither picked up until it was too late.

The details of the new information are covered by a confidentiality clause as part of Steele’s severance package.

“The board felt things weren’t going in the direction they wanted. There was a vote and it was unanimous. There were no dissenting voices,” said Thomas. “We had a responsibility to do what we believe was right for the union.

“The performance director obviously proved a problem. There were issues in terms of candidates coming in. There were procedures the board felt were not right.

“Last night we got a lot of detail we didn’t previously have and that is why we reached the decision.”