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Interim RFU chair Bill Beaumont, who, along with Sweeney, has been on a roadshow meeting club representatives, believes the chief executive's critics "do not represent the wider views of our game".
"A vote of no confidence risks sending the Union into paralysis and creating a costly leadership vacuum," he added in an open letter urging clubs to vote for a review and against Sweeney's removal.
The Whole Game Union, the collective which co-ordinated the move against Sweeney, said it had considerable backing, pointing out the vote was triggered by a letter signed by 152 clubs and members, with a significant number of other clubs also believe to be supportive.
"It is only because of the Whole Game Union's ability to corral the dissatisfaction of English Rugby with its leadership that Sir Bill and his Board belatedly discovered the need to go out and meet clubs," it added.
"None of the proposals in his letter would have been forthcoming if our Union was just a few malcontents stirring a pot. The pot was already boiling.
"If we are now in the business of urging people how to vote rather than letting them make up their own minds, we would say, 'Vote…
The Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, was paid a staggering £1.1m for the 2023-24 financial year despite record losses and swingeing job cuts at the governing body.
Sweeney’s basic salary rose from £684,000 to £742,000 – an increase of 8.5% – and he was awarded £358,000 as part of a long-term incentive plan linked to the union’s post‑Covid recovery, for the year ending June 2024.
That Sweeney became the first RFU chief executive to be paid a seven-figure salary amid an overall loss to reserves of £42m, according to the RFU’s latest accounts released on Monday, and 42 redundancies has been met with widespread disbelief within the game. The RFU, meanwhile, has pointed to fewer home matches because of the 2023 World Cup – and the added expense of the tournament – as key reasons for the losses.
Sweeney’s additional payment of £358,000 – effectively a bumper bonus – came because the RFU’s remuneration committee agreed three years ago that the executive team would be signed up for a long‑term incentive plan, that would be realised after three years, having taken a six‑month pay cut during the Covid pandemic.
In September the RFU announced that 42 employees were…