Future of the game now in hands of proud Yorkshireman Ritchie

Underneath him, alongside him, however that position is perceived, is another man of Yorkshire origin who wields a tremendous amount of influence in the corridors of power at Twickenham.

And the man trying to curry favour as the chosen one to lead the national team into the next World Cup cycle is an adopted Yorkshireman.

Such is the injection of honest White Rose grit it is a wonder they do not relocate the seat of English rugby power from south-west London to somewhere slap bang in the middle of our Broad Acres.

The three men in question are Ian Ritchie, the new chief executive, Richmond-born director of elite rugby Rob Andrew and Stuart Lancaster, the interim head coach.

Between them, they hold the future of English rugby in their hands.

Lancaster wants indefinite control of the national side, to continue the good work he has carried out since assuming caretaker charge of England before Christmas.

Andrew is the middle man, the one who refused to bow to pressure in the wake of the World Cup shambles to live to fight another day.

Ritchie, as the new boy in class, is the man on who all eyes focus on over the coming weeks.

In that time, he will interview Lancaster and the other contenders – of which Nick Mallett is the leading overseas candidates – with a view to making the appointment of a full-time head coach before the conclusion of the Six Nations.

In his first media briefing last week, Ritchie’s words betrayed a little uncertainty in the time frame, one minute suggesting an imminent appointment and the next that he would happily wait until after the summer tour to South Africa to name Martin Johnson’s full-time successor.

What is certain is the Leeds United-supporting former chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association knows that the buck stops with him.

It is for that reason that his advisory committee of former Headingley player Sir Ian McGeechan, Conor O’Shea, Richard Hill and Andrew will be exactly that – experienced people on who to lean.

“Advising is the phrase and one has to be clear about that,” said Leeds-born Ritchie, 58.

“I’m chairing an advisory panel that is helping me and ultimately I’ll come up with a recommendation that will go to the RFU board.

“Just sitting in a room with those guys, having a chat, has been a pleasure.

“They’ve been hugely professional in the time we’ve had.

“The candidate list is an extremely high calibre one.

“Stuart is on it and we’re going to have a difficult process. It’s a lovely problem to have.

“We would like in an ideal world, but this is not an absolute, to have someone in place coaching for the tour to South Africa.

“If for some reason we can’t manage that but we need to get the right person, we’ll look at that. But that’s the objective.”

Ritchie confesses to having shared many a discussion with Lancaster already on the subject of the pair’s beloved Leeds United, and the question of whether another new leader – Neil Warnock – can win promotion.

But aside from the question of who Ritchie selects to be the man to lead England’s senior team, the chief executive’s role is about much more than merely picking the figurehead and being judged on how he succeeds or fails.

Ultimately, that will be how Ritchie is measured, but his new job encompasses so many facets.

Like continuing to grow the community game, which has benefitted from a number of RFU-led initiatives.

One of his predecessors, John Steele, was keen to reconnect Twickenham with grass roots and did a tour of the country’s clubs – including Morley in Yorkshire – to hold talks with those at the very heart of the game.

Steele lost his job controversially amid his attempts to radically overhaul the power system at Twickenham which led to the on- and off-field malaise before, during and after the World Cup in New Zealand.

Ritchie would do well to heed such lessons, but also to follow in the footsteps of Steele by embracing the community game.

Ritchie said: “One of the most difficult things is trying to find a balance of priorities and where do you spend your time. I’d ask everybody for a bit of patience and forebearance about what do I do. How much time do I get out of the office?

“How much time to talk to people, how much time to get out to visit the clubs?

“There’s certain priorities that are time-consuming like the England head coach appointment.

“I’ve got to be careful about how I spend my time.

“But I do want to get out as much as possible. I enjoy that interaction.

“One of the attractive things for me with this job was the World Cup (2015). The World Cup is a great opportunity to grow the game, to not only get an international development but more importantly a national development, to get more people playing and watching rugby.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the game.

“We need to do all we can to make sure England are in the best place possible to win the World Cup.

“There’s a whole raft of things hugely important to the game and inevitably we get a lot of media interest in what is happening with the England team.

“What’s hugely important is participation, recognising the role people play and facilitating that. My job is to support that.”

Ritchie comes to the RFU after 30 years in business, media and sport.

“You hope that you’ve got some relevant experience and learnings,” he said.

“But you’ve got to be very careful to recognise that rugby is different. I’ve got to get a greater appreciation and understanding of the game. I’ve always been an enormous rugby fan, I’ve watched many internationals.

“I love rugby. I hope I’ve got some relevant experience I can bring. At 58, I’ve got some background in management and can bring that here. There’s lot of things to learn, lots of people to meet, lots of listening to do.”

Yorkshireman Ritchie looks ready to embrace the challenges and progress the sport.