Tuesday 1 December 2015 14:55, UK
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill insists RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie is "worth every penny" of his £600,000 salary.
Ritchie's position has been under scrutiny since vowing to take responsibility for England's woeful World Cup only for head coach Stuart Lancaster to lose his job while he stayed put.
But Cockerill believes Ritchie "runs the business very well" after the RFU confirmed Twickenham revenues exceeded £200m for the first time this year.
"If you're making a profit of £200m, he's probably worth every penny," said Cockerill. "One hundred per cent you should separate what happens on and off the pitch.
"The business is clearly very profitable, he's clearly in charge of that business. I think everybody should shake his hand and say 'well done'.
"He's an important man, clearly a very intelligent man and he runs the business very well. So for me, no issues."
The record revenue figure of £207.9m, up from £156.2m last year, confirmed the RFU's status as the world's richest union, putting more pressure on new head coach Eddie Jones to translate that financial success onto the pitch.
One of his first jobs will be to appoint his backroom staff, with Lancaster's assistants Andy Farrell, Graham Rowntree and Mike Catt likely to learn their fates shortly.
Exeter's Rob Baxter, Northampton's Jim Mallinder and Worcester's Dean Ryan could be in the mix to join Jones' new-look England, and Cockerill admits recruiting from the Premiership could prove a shrewd move.
"There are a lot of good, English coaches that are plying their trade as directors of rugby or assistant coaches," he added.
"And they have a lot of experience of the Premiership, the players and northern hemisphere rugby. I know Eddie's coached at club level in England.
"But I think it would be sensible to look at that. Whether the right people are available, or that's the right balance or mix, I don't know.
"That's up to Eddie to decide, but he's a smart coach, he's a head coach that actually likes to coach, he's not a guy that just organises. So he'll want to run it his way.
"There's a lot of good, young talent within the English coaching set-ups within the clubs, and it would probably be silly at least not to have a look at those, because there's some good skill-sets there."
