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New Rugby Australia chairman Daniel Herbert has revealed he and fellow board members had voted unanimously to end Hamish McLennan’s three-year reign late on Sunday night, deciding the code could no longer prosper under his leadership.
The RA board voted to remove McLennan following a series of meetings and phone hook-ups over the weekend that were sparked by a letter of no-confidence being sent on Friday on behalf of six member unions.
“We feel that moving forward the game requires everyone to unite,” Herbert said on Monday. “We felt that would only be achieved with a change of chair.”
The state and territory unions – Queensland, the ACT, West Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory – had signalled they were prepared to call an emergency general meeting to have McLennan removed but, ultimately, it was the RA board that delivered the coup de grâce, less than two months after Australia’s disastrous World Cup campaign ended.
Sources close to the board who spoke anonymously due to the confidential nature of the meeting said all sitting board members had voted against McLennan continuing as chairman, including RA CEO Phil Waugh, a close ally of his. McLennan told this masthead on Monday night that he and Waugh had not spoken since Sunday’s vote.
After the board voted against McLennan, Herbert’s name was put forward for the vacant chairman’s role, although his subsequent appointment came as a surprise to the rebel unions who had sent the letter of no confidence in McLennan.
New Rugby Australia Chair Dan Herbert.Credit: Jamila Toderas
Herbert, a former Wallaby who played 67 Tests for Australia between 1994 to 2002, told reporters on Monday he hadn’t gone into the meeting hoping to land the top job, saying: “It wasn’t something I coveted, I tell you that. I was quite happy in the background.”
“All the other directors asked me if I would take the position and given that was united, I accepted,” Herbert said.
“We joined the call [on Sunday night] and then both of us [McLennan and I] were asked to leave the call. Then I joined and was told of the decision. Then he was called and asked to rejoin the meeting. He asked for the result and didn’t rejoin the meeting.
“Because Hamish and I had a vote, that was the only split. Everything else was unanimous. I guess the faith the other directors put in me to do it got me over the line.”
Ousted Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Herbert said he wanted to be in the role for the long term and was looking forward to working alongside Waugh, his former Wallabies teammate, during a tumultuous period for the game. Two new RA directors will also be appointed in the coming months, most likely before RA’s annual general meeting in late April.
Like McLennan, Herbert believes the centralisation of high-performance and commercial operations is the key to improving the code’s fortunes on and off the field.
“What I’m excited about – it’s why I joined – I think I can add value in an area that I know is broken,” Herbert said.“I know what’s broken, I think I know how to fix it, I think I can select some good people to get around it and I think I’ve got good instincts around the type of people we need to fix it and run it.
“My fear is that we don’t move quickly enough because it’s not a switch that you flick. It takes a bit of time and we’ve got to start soon.”
Queensland Rugby Union chairman Brett Clark, who had telephoned McLennan on Friday to tell him of the intention to have him removed, said the rebel unions did not believe Waugh had been able to do his job properly with McLennan at the helm.
He also said the decision to replace Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach in a Rugby World Cup year had been the last straw, adding “no-one really wanted to take ownership of the Eddie Jones decision”.
“We also formed a view that the chair at the time was not the person that we thought could effectively lead us into that next generation of rugby,” Clark said. “It was never a personal attack at Hamish. It was around his cultural fit, his value and some of his decision-making.
“We think rugby can be great again. We’re buoyed by the fact that Daniel Herbert has taken the position as chair. We just felt that Phil [Waugh] probably didn’t have enough airspace or opportunity to actually do what he was employed to do. The final straw probably culminated from the Rugby World Cup.”
Clark refuted suggestions that the appointment of Herbert, who had held senior roles at the QRU from 2008 to 2016, was the result of a Queensland coup.
“Hand on heart I can honestly say I was totally shocked when I got the call on Sunday night. We’d all been working around the clock about these discussions around the last three days. I got a call saying Dan Herbert is now the chair. I had no idea Dan was even in consideration … let alone put his hand up.”
McLennan was a man of few words on Monday when contacted by this masthead.
“The grapevine works in mysterious ways,” McLennan said. “Sometimes life isn’t fair but no dramas. I’m really proud of what we achieved in a short period of time. The World Cups in 2027 and 2029 will be really special. I’m really energised about the next chapter.”
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