Former Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has referred to as out the “smear campaign” that led to his ousting late on Sunday evening, adamant the sport stays “broken”.
McLennan, who had defied calls to step down within the wake of the failed Wallabies World Cup marketing campaign and the resignation of coach Eddie Jones lower than a 12 months right into a five-year-deal, was compelled out after six member unions declared they “no longer have any trust or faith in his leadership”.
He was changed by Daniel Herbert as RA chairman and instantly resigned from the board. On Monday morning, he stated he believed the transfer was a play from the state unions about “money and control”.
“I think this is all about money and control at the end of the day, so we’ll see how it plays out. I just think there’s no doubt there’s been a co-ordinated campaign to smear me,” he instructed 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Monday morning.
“The results of the World Cup were pretty poor, but I think we’ve got to look at the underlying reasons and the fact is the system’s broken, and we’ve got to fix it.”
The insurgent group, which comprised the Queensland, ACT, West Australian, Tasmanian, South Australian and Northern Territory rugby unions – had moved to oust McLennan and collectively despatched letters of no confidence to the RA chairman and the RA board.
“We do not believe Mr McLennan has been acting in the best interests of our game,” the state unions’ letter to the RA board stated.
“We no longer have any trust or faith in his leadership or the direction in which he is taking rugby in Australia.”
McLennan was appointed RA chairman in mid-2020 with the code in dire monetary straits and helped secured internet hosting rights for the subsequent males’s World Cup in 2027 and the ladies’s event in 2029.
But his choice to nominate Jones for a second time proved disastrous, and the Wallabies did not make the quarter-finals on the World Cup for the primary time in historical past.
Herbert, who performed 67 Tests for Australia, and was part of the Wallabies groups that received the 1999 World Cup, 2001 British and Irish Lions collection, The Rugby Championship and 5 straight Bledisloe Cups, declared reform was coming.
“It has never been more important for the Rugby Australia board, working with member unions, to come together and execute the reform we absolutely need for an aligned high-performance system and to deliver on the commitments we have made, including to invest in community and women’s rugby,” Herbert stated in a press release.
“The reform we progress now will underpin the competitiveness of our national teams as well as building deeper engagement with the rugby community and fans everywhere.”
Source: www.news.com.au
