And with RFU chairman Martyn Thomas admitting that rugby priorities had been sacrificed for commercial success in recent years, Steele insists no expense will be sparred in propelling England back up world rugby’s honour role.

“To be blunt, everyone connected with the game would like to see England’s ranking higher than it is now,” Steele said.

“We are the richest union in the world and that is something that is of massive credit to my predecessor - but that is a means to an end.

“We are not a FTSE 100 company, we are an organisation that is here to serve and lead rugby. Profit is fantastic but it is a means of investing in the game.

“Your top team is your showcase, it is hugely important. You cannot buy high-performance success but you do need a minimum amount of resources.

“I don’t believe a union with the resources we have should see money around the high performance area as being restrictive.”