Rugby: Support for director to step up

Rugby Australia is close to engaging a talent recruitment agency to lead the search for a new chairman.

John Wilson says he is happy to remain a director of Rugby Australia

Rugby Australia is close to engaging a talent recruitment agency to lead the search for a new chairman, despite suggestions that a current director is being urged to take on the role.

Financial services executive John Wilson is believed to have support from several leading figures in the game to take over from departing chairman Cameron Clyne.

And Clyne has been urged to stand down sooner than he had intended so that a new chairman can oversee a change of direction for Rugby Australia.

Asked on Wednesday about taking on the chairmanship, Wilson said nothing was further from his mind. “I am a very happy director of Rugby Australia but I have no aspirations for any greater role,” he said. “I’m a journeyman who loves the game and I’m happy to serve it.”

Wilson said responsibility for the search for a new chairman lay with the board’s nominations committee, which is chaired by Clyne.

“They are taking that responsibility very seriously,” he said.

A Rugby Australia spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the nominations committee was close to appointing a talent recruitment agency and an announcement was imminent.

There are growing concerns in rugby that the appointment of a high-priced recruitment agency is not something the cash-strapped organisation should be spending money on.

Geoff Stooke, the former RA director who quit over the axing of the Western Force, is among those who have called for Clyne to stand aside from the nominations committee.

“Cameron has made the decision to go,” Stooke said.

“That’s his decision. I’d now be reluctant, if I was in his position, to get too involved in decision-making that affects the future of the organisation. The nominations committee could live without the chair of the RA board being involved at all.”

Wilson said rugby in Australia faced exciting challenges and great opportunities, with the success of the Junior Wallabies offering great hope for the future.

Strong growth of the game among women players was also a major positive.

“We are incredibly well placed as a truly world game,” Wilson said. “There are really good things happening in Australian rugby at the moment — a lot of good news stories and we need to concentrate on them. It’s an exciting time of renewal and we need to grasp that opportunity.”