Rugby Australia turmoil: Marathon board meeting fails to resolve situation with chairman Hamish McLennan refusing to resign

The fallout from Australia’s disastrous World Cup shows no sign of abating with a meeting of Rugby Australia unable to come to a conclusion and chairman Hamish McLennan refusing to resign.

A marathon board meeting failed to resolve the position of Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan on Saturday night, with a vote set to be held within a fortnight.

It’s understood McLennan was advised to stand down but refused to do so, resulting in an ongoing saga that is plaguing Australian rugby.

It’s believed that in the absence of McLennan’s resignation, the member unions calling for his sacking have another 24 hours to call for an extraordinary general meeting at which his fate will be decided.

McLennan is refusing to resign.

There was an RA board meeting held earlier without McLennan on Saturday, followed by a hastily convened meeting which the chairman attended pleading his case which lasted more than four hours.

Hamish McLennan with Eddie Jones at the announcement of Jones as Wallabies coach less than 12 months ago. Picture: Tim Hunter.

McLennan is adamant he is the man that the can drive the centralisation program to transform Australian rugby, yet his critics point to his appointment of former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, and multimillion-dollar signing of NRL star Joseph Suaalii, as proof he is out of touch.

When six states decided to move against Mr McLennan late Friday, he refused to buckle and said they were the same people opposed to his plan to centralise Australian rugby.

In a damning letter issued by Queensland, ACT, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania, the members slammed McLennan’s “captain’s pick” to sign Jones – who led the Wallabies to their worst World Cup result – as well as signing NRL star Suaalii to a record $5.3 million contract from 2025.