Top brass from the Rugby Football Union – including former England captain Sir Bill Beaumont - were at Colchester’s Raven Park this week to address wide-ranging issues surrounding the future of the game in England.

The session was part of an RFU roadshow touring clubs across the country ahead of a special general meeting to be held after the Six Nations at which chief executive Bill Sweeney is expected to face calls to resign over a long-running pay and bonus row.

Tuesday’s session, at which a whole range of topics about the future of the game was raised, was attended by around 12 clubs from Essex and across eastern England.

Alongside Sweeney and Beaumont - who is now interim chairman of the union - the RFU delegation included president Rob Udwin and a number of the Union’s council members, with the session moderated by TV presenter and Esher RFC stalwart John Inverdale.

The issue of Sweeney’s controversial salary and £358,000 bonus package was raised, with comparison made with the dozens of hours put in by unpaid club volunteers up and down the country to keep the game going at lower levels.

But it was just one of a whole range of issues on the minds of the club representatives with everything from the increased administrative form-filling required by the RFU to the number of different TV channels rugby fans must pay for to follow their favourite sport on the agenda.

A common theme was the increasing burden placed on volunteers to keep community and grassroots rugby clubs functioning at a time when the union are planning to spend hundreds of millions on refurbishing Twickenham stadium.

“We have to upgrade Twickenham,” Sweeney told the gathering. “It’s a cash-generator for the game as a whole and it’s very old.

“What we charge for tickets means we have to improve. The seats are too small, the toilets are horrendous, there’s not enough space and hospitality facilities are not good enough.”

Sweeney said Twickenham was falling behind other more modern stadia in London like Wembley and Tottenham’s ground and was losing out on staging revenue-raising events.

Sweeny was asked about the departure in 2022 of England head coach Eddie Jones, who he described as “a workaholic” with “an abrasive style” but said many England players had described him as the best coach they’d ever had.

Just three days after England lost to Ireland in Dublin, Sweeney gave unequivocal backing to current coach Steve Borthwick, but ahead of Saturday’s home match against favourites France, he stressed the team should be doing better, saying improved results would trickle down to the entire game.

“We’ve won four Six Nations titles in 21 years and that’s not good enough. But we’ve put a new pathway in place. The England Under 18s and Under 20s are doing well and that will all help.”

More than one club representative raised the issue of financial help from the RFU to improve their facilities.

The representative of Saffron Walden RFC said recent bad weather meant that they needed to find around £12,000 to improve their pitch and that the only option was to “go out with the begging bowl.”

Other topics included the thorny and perennial issue of the paying of players in clubs lower down the league pyramid and whether women’s and girls’ rugby were being given enough support by Twickenham.

But one thing everyone agreed upon was the fabulous facilities Colchester now have at Raven Park.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” said Beaumont. “Great facilities attract players – men, women, girls, boys – and I just think the club here have got it absolutely right.”

And the former England and British and Irish Lions legend’s thoughts on England’s prospects at home to France on Saturday?

“You’ve always got to go into games with optimism. Whenever I put on the jersey – and these lads will be the same – you think you’re going to win.”