New RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie needs to tackle controversial issues Question two: The non-executive functions of the Rugby Football Union, and here we are talking principally about the 50-plus Council members, cost around £1.5 million to service with free tickets, accommodation and travel to and from international matches home and away, as well as travel and accommodation for the various committee meetings they attend during the year. A part of that total also goes on hosting various grandees from other unions and assorted celebrities, but Council expenses make up the bulk of it. Value for money? These are just two of the more incendiary issues facing new RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie when he starts work on Monday. He will need to consider how to justify the remuneration and continued employment of an individual associated with failure whose responsibilities have been significantly downgraded, and how to persuade a Council whose representational basis is no longer relevant or appropriate to agree to substantial reform. Another concern for the man who has moved from the All England Club at Wimbledon to Twickenham is a management board that, despite the arrival of two independent, non-executive directors parachuted in to improve corporate governance, is still tainted by the chaos that accompanied the sacking of Ritchie's predecessor John Steele. Then there's the 2015 World Cup, which will be held in England. Few doubt the RFU's ability to make the commercial side of the event work. There is even a chance that, having learnt from the mistakes following England's 2003 triumph when a rise in interest and participation was allowed to dissipate, a successful legacy might endure. But that will hinge on whether the RFU can generate the fun, warmth, hospitality, sense of purpose and national consciousness which have informed all the great Rugby World Cups, and which was especially true of the tournaments in France and New Zealand. Historically the RFU haven't been very good at that bit. Over the years they have acquired a reputation for divisiveness and arrogance, an alliance which has meant that they have not always been as influential on a global stage as the size of their playing base and financial resources would suggest. Ritchie needs to get a grip on that, but with everyone's friend, cuddly Bill Beaumont, set to become RFU chairman, he has a chance to repair the RFU's image.