- Hamish McLennan has been replaced as Rugby Australia boss
- The chairman was under huge pressure after a disastrous year
- He has been replaced by Daniel Herbert
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Hamish McLennan has reportedly been relieved of his duties as Rugby Australia boss following a late-night board vote.
The decision comes in the wake of the Wallabies’ disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign and Eddie Jones’s resignation as coach of the team.
McLennan hired Jones to great fanfare at the start of the year but his dream return soon turned into a nightmare, with the combative coach now linked with the Japan head coach role.
Daniel Herbert has replaced McLennan as chairman of Rugby Australia.
Earlier this week, six fed-up state representatives demanded he walk away from Rugby Australia, with Queensland Rugby chair Brett Clark declaring on Friday McLennan ‘is not the right cultural fit for how we want our game to be represented.’
Hamish McLennan has been sacked as boss of Rugby Australia
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The chairman appointed Eddie Jones, whose stint became a nightmare
As well as the Jones disaster, he was also responsible for signing Sydney Roosters NRL young gun Joseph Suaalii on a whopping $5.3million multi-year contract from 2025.
One source told News Corp before the vote: ‘We are giving Hamish the opportunity to step down with dignity.
‘But if he decides not to, we will have the votes to move him on. He is a dead man walking.’
McLennan has attributed the Wallabies’ disastrous 2023 to structural issues within Australian rugby and has pleaded for time to turn things around.
In a statement, new chairman Herbert said: ‘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.
‘Australia will host the British and Irish Lions Tour in 2025, the Men’s 2027 Rugby World Cup and the Women’s 2029 Rugby World Cup and the 2032 Olympic Games – 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.’
‘We note that the different Member Unions are not opposing Rugby Australia’s centralisation proposals and remain committed to supporting high performance alignment.’
