Rugby World Cup 2023: Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan says loss to Fiji was 20 years in the making
Rather than calling for heads to roll, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan says the Wallabies’ loss to Fiji was a result of decades of bad governance he is intent to fix.
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The recriminations from the Wallabies World Cup loss to Fiji are already in full swing, with calls for heads to roll.
But Hamish McLennan, the brazen chair of Rugby Australia, said the loss was proof the major changes that are being made are the right ones.
In an extended two-part interview with this masthead, he explains why the loss to Fiji was symptomatic of the bigger problems that can only be fixed when Australia moves to a centralised system.
LOSS YEARS IN THE MAKING
As convenient as it is to cast him as the scapegoat, Eddie Jones is not to blame for the Wallabies’ humiliating loss to Fiji at the Rugby World Cup.
Nor is promising young five-eighth Carter Gordon for his reticence to defuse the bomb that led to Fiji’s historic match winning try at Saint Etienne.
The same applies to veteran halfback Nic White, even after he persisted in gifting the ball to the Pacific Islanders with his ineffective box kicks, or Marika Koroibete for missing so many one-on-one tackles or Richie Arnold for conceding a stream of ill-disciplined penalties at the breakdown.
Truth be known, none of the coaches or the players or even the selectors deserve to be portrayed as the fall guys for one of the most humbling defeats in Australian rugby’s proud history, because they’re the ones getting their hands dirty at the coal mine face.
The real culprits are the game’s custodians who have allowed the code to wither on the vine when the alarm bells were ringing louder than ever.
For far too long, national and state rugby administrators have neglected their obligation to protect and grow the game, instead living off the successes from decades ago and the unwavering loyalty of the true believers.
Instead of making the tough calls that needed to be made, they prioritised self interest and Band-Aid solutions knowing it was only a matter of time before their house of straw got blown away.
Take nothing away from the Fijians, because they gave the Wallabies a lesson in modern rugby but the uncomfortable truth is the game is dying in Australia and needs major surgery to bring it back to life.
If there is any good to come out of the sobering loss to Fiji, it must be that this is where the line in the sand is drawn because the trashing of the Wallabies brand is an abomination for everyone who really cares about Australian sport.
RA chairman Hamish McLennan admitted as much, and more, in a wide-ranging interview with this masthead in the aftermath of the Wallabies’ loss to Fiji.
Resisting any temptation to sugar-coat the result with corporate spin, McLennan said the defeat was irrefutable proof Australian rugby had dropped the ball and needed to make radical changes to save the code from ruin.
With Australia hosting the next World Cup in four years' time, there is an opportunity to fix things, but it can’t be taken for granted because the system is broken.
According to McLennan, Australia has no choice other than to scrap its antiquated state-based model and fast-track a new centralised system where everyone is working together for the common good.
“This is a system issue, not a single coach issue that we need to resolve,” he said.
“Obviously we want to do well in 2023, but I have always had an eye for 2027, which is why hosting a home World Cup is so important, and the recent announcement around greater centralisation is critical.
“And you just need to look at France as a more centralised contracting model. France, to my understanding, has a similar amount of players as Australia, but a more centralised approach.
“In addition to Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and so the rest of the world is far leaping ahead of us in terms of how we manage the playing group from grassroots right through to the Wallabies and Wallaroos.
“So this is why it’s absolutely necessary that we fix the structure of the organisation. This is absolutely the proof of why we need to change.
“A federated model is cumbersome and inefficient.”
McLennan’s admission that the Australian system is a crock is not news.
That’s been an open secret for decades but finally something is done about it, with RA last month pledging a historic overhaul.
McLennan’s revelation that the Wallabies are targeting 2027 is no scoop either, but hasn’t gone down well because it’s not the Australian way to admit defeat.
But it’s also a brutally honest assessment of where the Wallabies have been for years, and why only a major overhaul can give them a chance of becoming world champions again.
That’s the reason why RA made the ruthless decision to sack Dave Rennie as coach after last year’s disastrous European tour, and replace him with Jones, who made the tough call to start rebuilding a team he thinks can win in 2027.
It’s made him, and McLennan, unpopular but both are unrepentant that systemic changes are needed.
“At the end of the day, this (loss to Fiji) was 20 years in the making,” McLennan said.
“There’s a lot people at RA who are copping this on the chin but we’re moving forward, we’ve won the hosting rights to the World Cups for Australia in 2027 and 2029 and we have a first class RA board.
“We’re doing the right thing by the code but it just takes years to fix it up. I’m not gilding the lily, I was gutted like everyone else, but we’re having a swing.”
It’s also no secret that RA has been a basket case for years and was teetering on the brink of insolvency during the Covid pandemic.
Tough decisions have already been made off the field to try and get the code’s finances in order.
These include the breakthrough agreement for centralised model that most other major unions have already adopted.
Too late to change the result against Fiji, if it works, it may at least ensure those results never happen again.
“We’ve been saying the system needs to change. The rugby economy, the rugby ecosystem has to change and this is one of those moments,” McLennan said.
“We don’t need any more proof. We’ve got meetings all week on how we move the centralisation model forward, so it’s happening but what we’ve got to do is seize the opportunity for the home World Cups.
“Yes, it’s disappointing what happened but we’re firmly fixated on 2027. Every other major union is far more progressed than we are.
“Rugby in Australia is very much like our state and federal government’s federated model. It’s disjointed and clunky and doesn’t work.
“If France and Ireland can build better systems along with New Zealand, some with smaller populations than Australia, then why wouldn’t we borrow some quality thinking from people who are succeeding?”
Part II – Why appointing Eddie Jones was the right decision
Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2023: Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan says loss to Fiji was 20 years in the making
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