Rugby Australia interim chairman Paul McLean confirms Peter Wiggs’ board exit

Paul McLean has issued a short statement confirming that Peter Wiggs has resigned from the RA board he joined in March.

Peter Wiggs has stepped down from the Rugby Australia board. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Interim Rugby Australia chairman Paul McLean has issued a short statement confirming that Peter Wiggs has resigned from the board of the organisation and thanking him for his work.

McLean confirmed that Wiggs, who joined the board at the annual general meeting in March, had resigned today, barely 36 hours after being challenged by some of his fellow directors at a turbulent board meeting on Monday night. He had wanted to immediately “parachute” Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll into the RA CEO role without waiting for the due process to run its course.

That prompted protests from half the board with director John Wilson claiming that if the board ignored due process “we will all look like the idiots people think we are.”

McLean, though, was full of praise for the role Wiggs had played.

“Peter has decided to step down from the board and I understand his reasons,” McLean said in his statement.

“He has undertaken some very important work and has made a valuable contribution to the organisation, in a very short time, and we are thankful for his contribution.

“The immediate priority of the board is to install a replacement for Peter, and an interim Chief Executive. I will provide an update on those matters at the appropriate time.”

Wiggs’ resignation has created a vacancy on the board which means that Hamish McLennan, the former News Corp senior executive and Ten boss, can be brought on almost immediately. Wiggs always loomed as the presumptive RA chairman but that role now falls to McLennan. He initially had been scheduled to join as a director when McLean decided to retire but it now will be possible for him to be brought up to speed as a director before taking over from the interim chairman. That is all expected to happen sooner rather than later, as one insider phrased it on Wednesday.