AFP – The chief executive of England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) Bill Sweeney survived a vote of confidence in his leadership at a special general meeting on Thursday where he faced a call for his dismissal by the board. A grassroots uprising gathered enough support to force the meeting and a motion calling for Sweeney’s dismissal as soon as practically possible. But that resolution was defeated by 466 votes to 206, with 36 abstentions, following a combined in-person vote at the RFU’s Twickenham headquarters and an online ballot. Only the RFU’s board, however, has the power to dismiss Sweeney. RFU interim chairman Bill Beaumont said the 65 per cent of those who voted in support of Sweeney had delivered an “emphatic” outcome. The ex-England captain and former World Rugby chairman added, “This is not a time to argue, but to pull together. The time for division is past. Now is the time to unite behind an opportunity to renew English rugby. “Let us put behind this period of in-fighting and modernise the union. Let’s get back to focusing on the many positives in our game. “Every single (England) player who puts that white shirt on started off in community rugby. Every single one of them.” The special general meeting came about following months of public anger within the English game over Sweeney’s pay and bonuses. The outcry started in November with the revelation he was paid GBP1.1 million for the 2023/24 financial year, which included a bonus of GBP358,000, despite the RFU reporting a record annual operating loss of nearly GBP38 million.