Hamish McLennan opens up on Eddie Jones, the Wallabies and why he won’t quit
After Eddie Jones’ resignation and a disastrous World Cup, Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan is facing calls to quit or be rolled. But in an exclusive interview, McLennan remains as bullish as ever, issuing a warning over any attempt to remove him.
Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan says if there is a move to “spear him” and other powerbrokers it will only cause more trouble for the embattled game.
“I think the rugby community needs to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” McLennan said. “For the record – I’m digging in.
“I get a weird strength from the situation because no one believes that rugby can be saved. And myself, Waughy (CEO Phil Waugh) and the board will prove you all wrong.”
In an exclusive interview McLennan shot down reports he had been “partying in Paris” while the game was in crisis, maintained hiring recently departed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones was a “risk worth taking” and pointed to several key financial decisions that kept the code afloat – and revealed he was in negotiations to extend a lucrative deal with major sponsor Cadbury beyond 2026.
McLennan, emboldened by the criticism he has endured since the disastrous World Cup chapter, said the code would endure even more problems if stakeholders chose to make the current Rugby Australia leadership take the hit for the sins of previous administrations.
“If they try to spear myself, Waughy and the board they might find they’ve got a bigger problem on their hands,” he said.
McLennan noted he has been directly involved in several key financial decisions, including a $30m-a-year media rights deal, had brought in Harvey Norman, and locked in Cadbury to sponsor the Wallabies after Qantas departed.
Cadbury confirmed talks were under way about extending the contract when contacted by The Weekend Australian and global president Darren O’Brien went as far to publicly endorse the chair.
“Our partnership with Rugby Australia remains very strong because we believe in the vision they have,” O’Brien said. “We haven’t had the success that we’d like, but I believe they’ve got a commitment to making the changes that will bring about that success with both the Wallabies and Wallaroos – l fully support moving towards a centralised model similar to what several other top rugby nations have and see it as key to us winning World Cups again.
“We are already well advanced in negotiations around both expanding and extending our Cadbury sponsorship as our intent was always to be a long-term partner.”
O’Brien added: “My initial relationship with Rugby Australia began with Hamish and he was relatively new into into the role of chair, and part of what led to us coming on board was the big vision and commitment that he actually had for Rugby Australia and also for what he described as the golden decade and his desire to be able to secure the twin World Cups which has been done. Our support remains unwavering and now we have secured the home World Cups we want to make sure we win them.”
Following the sensational resignation of Jones this week after the disastrous World Cup campaign, the critics have lined up, including former Wallaby Brendan Cannon. Cannon wrote in his Code Sports column that McLennan should be blamed for the World Cup and described Australian rugby as being at an “all-time low”.
Cannon is not alone. Many fans say McLennan should take the heat for hiring Jones – who during the recent World Cup was forced to repeatedly deny he interviewed for the Japan job during Australia’s campaign.
McLennan maintains Rugby Australia’s decision to hire Jones was “a gamble worth taking” – the Wallabies coach resigned 10 months into a five-year deal – and that they were still waiting for “proof” that an interview with Japanese rugby officials had occurred.
“Myself and the board thought it was a risk worth taking given the poor performance of Dave Rennie, who had a 38 per cent win rate,” he said. “I think the only mistake is that if Eddie was talking to Japan and it is proven … but even then how would we have known that?
“Say that the report is proven to be true – then how on earth would we have known? We acted in good faith and backed him. I am still waiting to see the proof.”
McLennan said he would continue to encourage bold calls in the game. “I am happy to take the hits but if the punters think that anyone has perfect judgment then I beg to differ,” he said. “And I don’t feel the need to apologise for any call when they’re all made with the best intention of helping Rugby Australia.”
He also said the insinuation that he was a “lush” who couldn’t “stop partying” in Paris at the World Cup was “completely” false. The Australian Financial Review reported that McLennan and Waugh had hosted a reception at The Abbey House, a five-star flat in Paris’ St Germain-des-Pres, but McLennan insisted it was incorrect.
“This portrayal that I am some sort of like a silvertail and a toff is ridiculous,” he said. “The insinuation that I was lounging around and partying on RA’s coin is just laughable. The last two weeks that Phil Waugh and I had were some of the most important ever in setting out the foundations for Australian rugby.
“We played a significant role in lobbying to get the global season changed along with the Nations Cup, and most importantly we shifted the rugby World Cup which we are hosting in 2027 back two weeks which will deliver a $2.5bn injection into the economy and $100m to RA.”
In 2003, the last time Australia hosted a World Cup, the season too was moved to be staged after the NRL and AFL seasons.
McLennan said the negotiations in Paris were key and he has developed a strong tie to World Rugby boss Sir Bill Beaumont and CEO Alan Gilpin.
“We have superb relationships with World Rugby and our Tier One colleagues,” he said. “But the pressure’s on to centralise and to do it now, or the member unions will waste the golden opportunity and shoot themselves in the foot.”
The member unions could band together and call an extraordinary general meeting and vote to roll the chair and his board. While there have rumblings of discontent, it has been from just two states.
While McLennan enjoys support from NSW, Victoria and WA, it is the ACT, led by Matt Nobbs which is yet to agree to the model. Queensland has expressed opposition to some parts of the centralised high-performance model. Queensland wants to retain the commercial rights, which is “fine” by McLennan and Waugh.
“I have a lot of respect for Queensland chair Brett Clark,” McLennan said. “The truth is, we need to centralise, because the rest of the rugby world has pulled ahead of us while we‘ve got our head in the sand having territorial squabbles.”
McLennan said he had good relationships with a number of financial stakeholders and it would be a bad move to get rid of the chair and the board as rugby’s problems would remain.
“We have a great team but for the record, I had a little bit to do with the signing of Cadbury, getting Harvey Norman in, helping strike a deal with Nine and Stan,” he said. “I pushed for paying the Wallaroos for the first time ever, helped cut $35m worth of cost out of RA to keep it afloat and secured a $40m lifeline from Ares (investment company). Then there was winning the men’s and women’s World Cup in 2027 and 29.
“All major decisions have proper governance around them. RA has a fantastic and tireless working board. But I’d just say the portrayal of Phil Waugh as a captain’s call because we went to the same school is a massive joke as he is clearly the best candidate.”
McLennan was referring to repeated suggestions that he is part of an “old school tie” network and that he used a “captain’s pick” to make fellow Shore old boy Waugh, a former Wallaby, CEO.
“I’ve been in business for nearly 40 years and I’ve never hired anyone from Shore and I’ve been fighting the whole old school mentality all my life.
“To insinuate that discredits Phil and his many achievements.”
McLennan also said a private equity deal – RA was initially looking for $250m – didn’t fall through as previously reported.
“Private equity didn’t fall over. We paused it because we didn’t have certainty around our broadcast window,” he said. “But I must say, Waughy and I had a good meeting with Nine management in France.”
He said the next deal should be worth more than the last. He believes RA’s broadcast rights could fetch $45m-$55m in the next deal.
While in Paris, McLennan met his South African counterpart, Mark Alexander, who endured a torrent of criticism when he took over SA rugby in 2016. South Africa have now won the last two World Cups. “He basically rebuilt the Springboks, who went through what I am going through in 2016, and when he met up with me, he reminded me to take strength from the Theodore Roosevelt ‘man in the arena’ quote,” McLennan said.
“Not all calls work out, but fortune favours the brave.”