The Rugby Football Union (RFU) and their board have confirmed that chief executive John Steele will be able to go ahead and make widespread changes to the organisation after he delivered his proposals in a lengthy session on Wednesday.
It is believed that among the changes, elite rugby director Rob Andrew will have his role altered.
There will also be a new post created, essentially as a performance director, who will govern the playing structure from the grassroots through to the test team, and ensure that the production line for English rugby is kept strong.
While it has been denied by the RFU, it is believed that former coach Sir Clive Woodward may eventually come onboard in some capacity, while former Springbok coach Jake White and former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones are names also being mentioned in the English media.
Current England coach Martin Johnson and his assistants will remain in their positions at least till the World Cup, although there is a general feeling that results will need to be achieved over the next year considering that Steele is being tasked to ensure the team is competitive at the highest level.
Steele replaced Francis Baron last September, and has been given the responsibility to look at rugby, rather than the business.
Baron was credited with turning the RFU and England rugby into a financial powerhouse, with the union recording revenues last year of £112?million ($229.6 million NZD), with a profit of £25.8?million ($52.9 million NZD).
Yet focus now will shift away from the bottom line and move towards rugby, and this timeline will essentially be judged in 2015, when England host the Rugby World Cup.
Steele, a former Northampton first five-eighth that helped win the Heineken Cup for the club when he was their director of rugby in 2000, has impressed since stepping into the role.
“John has absolutely vindicated our decision to appoint him as CEO,” said RFU chairman, Martyn Thomas.
“The new approach shows a real appreciation of how rugby works. John has our total support.”
Since winning the World Cup in 2003, England's most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2007 tournament against the odds, yet then coach Brian Ashton was dumped in favour of Martin Johnson.
England's current Six Nations drought is far from their worst ever, with the team unable to win the original Home Nations from 1892 to 1910, or the Five Nations from 1981 till 1991.
Yet seven years without tasting success is considered unacceptable by many considering that from 1991 to 2003 England won the championship seven times, four with a Grand Slam.
Lawrence Dallalgio told the Telegraph that the review and coming changes would be good for the game.
“England have a very successful structure from the bottom up but not from the top down,” he said.
“With the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, clearly the onus is now going to shift back towards the top end of the game and the team. John has come in with a fresh pair of eyes and is a rugby man who does understand the game.
"We live in a business of high performance which is results-driven. It constantly reviews itself and looks for ways to improve. That can sometimes mean changing people.”
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