SAINT ETIENNE – Rugby Australia’s push for structural reform threatens to be derailed, with certain factions within the member unions rallying support to call an Extraordinary General Meeting that threatens the leadership of Hamish McLennan and the entire board.
Sunday’s devastating record World Cup defeat to Wales, which has put the Wallabies on the brink of missing the knockout stage of the tournament for the first time, has increased tensions across the entire rugby landscape and plunged the future of Wallabies coach Eddie Jones into doubt.
With the game on a knife’s edge heading into the World Cup following a two-decade decline, whispers of plotting a coup started in the days following the Wallabies’ first loss to Fiji in 69 years.
The Wallabies’ 40-6 loss to Wales – their heaviest defeat in a World Cup match – has only intensified the mood within Australian rugby.
The Wallabies have won less than 40 per cent of Tests since 2016. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
RA’s desire to move towards a more aligned system, which includes centralised elements, had already ruffled feathers.
While RA, together with the five Super Rugby franchises, announced an agreement in principle to a “strategic reset” on August 23, not everyone is on board.
The Roar understands the ACT Brumbies and Queensland Reds, as well as the Western Force, have strong reservations about a move towards a more centralised system.
The Brumbies, particularly, are concerned that if they were to hand over their license, the franchise could be moved away from Canberra.
The Reds, meanwhile, feel like they are back on track after recovering from years of debt. The fact that they own Ballymore has left the Queensland Rugby Union in a strong position going forward.
Yet, there are deeply held reservations about whether they can trust RA and, indeed, if the right people are in charge and if they are best served to make critical decisions about the direction of the game.
The Wallabies’ humbling World Cup campaign, where RA’s decision to axe Dave Rennie and appoint Jones has, in the short-term at least, failed, has intensified that feeling.
It’s understood Queensland and the ACT are attempting to raise support for a potential intervention despite some mutual respect between Reds chairman Brett Clark and McLennan.
The state unions could call an EGM but currently don’t have the support to do so.
All eyes are on New South Wales, who are under huge financial strain and are backing the move towards a more aligned system. For now.
If they fall, so could RA.
RA chief executive Phil Waugh (R) and Hamish McLennan (L) are coming under pressure following the Wallabies’ humbling World Cup result. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
The Constitution of Australian Rugby Union means that NSW, like Queensland, currently are entitled to three votes because they each have more than 50,000 rugby participants and have a Super Rugby franchise.
It means the other three Super Rugby franchises, which have less than 50,000 participants, have just two votes. While the Rugby Union Players’ Association also has a vote.
Part of the frustration from the Super Rugby franchises is the estimated $1.7 million that was withdrawn from RA following the most recent broadcast deal because of flagging costs.
The reduced amount of money given to the Super Rugby sides partly explains the governing body’s $8.2 million profit from 2022.
McLennan told The Roar on Monday that “Rugby in Australia needs a complete restructure.”
“The North has caught up to the South and we need a more centralised efficient structure to compete,” he said.
He added that “centralisation, “investing in players, grassroots and coaching” as well as “continuing to build our commercial assets and maximise our home World Cups” was essential.
RA points to the absence of Bledisloe Cup success since 2002 and the lack of continued success in Super Rugby, particularly since the Waratahs won their maiden and only title in 2014, as a decade-long malaise that will only intensify if they don’t come together to work closer together.
Indeed, since 2016, the Wallabies have won just 39.36 per cent of Tests from 94 Tests – a decrease from 41.9 per cent since Jones took over in January.
“This year has been an acceleration of an already steady decline. So let’s not say that everything was rosy and we’ve fallen off a cliff, we’ve been going downhill for a long, long time,” former Wallaby Morgan Tuirnui said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
“My experience having worked in the English premiership, Japan, Australia, and Ireland is that the Irish system is by far the most integrated and the most seamless,” Friend told The Roar.
“They call it ‘team of us’ and it’s everyone pushing to get the best out of the national team. And within that you’ve got competition, of course you do, and Nussi [Nucifora] was brilliant in driving that and brilliant in trying to get the balance of the best players playing football, and you need to have your home stream.”
Rugby Australia’s decision to appoint Eddie Jones as Wallabies coach has failed to bear fruit. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Every review conducted by the Australian Rugby Union (now RA) since 2008 has pointed towards becoming more aligned, The Roar understands.
The issue is, RA has largely kept the review findings confidential and not engaged with the member unions.
Rugby insiders believe trust and respect are two of the biggest challenges facing the governing body’s desire to usher through reform.
Some of the state unions believe they are being bullied by the national body, while others have accused McLennan of saying one thing privately and another publicly.
Accountability is also another issue that many believe is cruelling their efforts.
Phil Waugh was on the board from 2018 before being appointed chief executive in June, while Daniel Herbert, who sits alongside his former Wallabies teammate on RA’s high-performance committee, has also been on the board since 2020.
Long-time RA figures like Ben Whitaker remain, too.
Former General Manager National High-Performance Adrian Thompson, who held several roles across RA, has only recently been let go after Waugh was appointed.
Waugh is currently looking at appointing a new head of high performance, with an announcement hoped before the end of the year.
There is also a perception that RA spends beyond its means.
Sources have also raised questions about why RA has seven community operators when that area of building the grassroots of the game is under the member unions’ umbrella.
It’s a duplication, which extends into sponsorship deals, that many can’t understand.
Those factors, including a widely held perception that for too long RA figures don’t surround themselves with people who challenge views and want to make tough decisions, have contributed to the distrust across the various member unions and their constituents.
Allan Eskdale
Roar Rookie
I am not sure who plays 30 games, especially on Australian grounds which tend to be much harder than in Europe. The big problem is the small number of games played in juniors. In the GPS competition they probably play 10 a year and no club football. Compare that to the Ellas who were playing three times a week between school, union and league. Even in Sydney club football they have cut the season short to accommodate ARC/NRC and never extended it back. All of that compounded by the lack of coaching skills. Compare Kellaway to most other players. He makes few errors because he understands what is required in each situation and then uses the appropriate skill. A common trait with NZ players but rare this side of the ditch.
Noodles
Roar Rookie
Twiggy loses CEOs faster than the hamster loses coaches. He’s evidently just like the hamster.
Ray L
Roar Rookie
I can't see that having two additional teams in a professional national domestic competition in Sydney and one in Brisbane would cannibalise support of local clubs. Such a competition would just be replacing Super Rugby in the same time frame and the Premier Club competitions would remain the 3rd tier, so it shouldn't make any difference in terms of local club support. It's a different scenario to the examples you referred to in Perth and Adelaide. The main difference would be that more players would be drawn from the Sydney and Brisbane club competitions to train and play professionally at a higher level and those not required on the match day would return to their respective clubs in the region as they do now. Likewise, at the conclusion of the national domestic competition, those not selected in the Wallabies' squad would also return to their local clubs as they do now. Some will no doubt argue that it would be draining the local clubs of players, but I see it as creating the opportunity for the more talented club players to play professionally in Australia rather than going overseas, which many do. It also opens up opportunities for aspiring club players further down the chain to play first grade. It certainly wouldn't dampen my support for my local club.
piru
Roar Rookie
Maybe not but the Samoan and Fijian sides might have had some value
Lomax
Roar Rookie
Interesting. Can you get 30 games per season of top tier / provincial rugby into say your top 60 - 100 players though? This will be important to build depth. We also want our top player combinations ti be settled all year round. This means not playing players out of position and chopping and changing player combinations between clubs. Critical.
MalBreakaway
Roar Rookie
Given new science on neurone plasticity (and that the awareness of cohesion is also new) then targeting it as a factor to train is likely possible over the shorter term. Previously it has naturally occurred over time by convenience and community, but I expect it could be a targeted quality. No expert but reckon most qualities can be developed if well understood.
WEST
Roar Guru
It’s the wrong people.. just repeated over and over
AndyS
Roar Rookie
No, remake RA. Separate the administration of the amateur and professional games. And provide a genuine funding return to the amateur game from the elite level, just as there once was when the the 'good old days' were good. Under this version of RA, centralisation will just mean professional rugby rules, and the amateur game can go die in a corner. Yet they've somehow got everyone cheering for it, and demanding that the Unions whose primary responsibility is custody of that amateur game get with the program.
scrum
Roar Rookie
I get your anger and disappointment. But with respect the opinions of the people connected with the Irish revival and ascent to Number 1 - 14 consecutive wins I think- are to be heeded. I think their knowledge of what is required to be successful far outweighs any contribution you or I can offer
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
I don’t think it is the people that is the issue. We see the same problems consistently and continuously regardless of who is the CEO or Chair. It is structural- a structural solution is required which means changing the constitution.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
RA is in another deep crisis. Just when NSWRU got their people in the right places, the honey pot ran dry, the Wallabies failed (very likely) for the first time to make the RWC finals and we dropped to #10 in the men’s rankings. There is a Lions tour in 2026 and RWC 2027 in Australia and drastic action is required. Those that stuffed up are those that controls the administration: they made the wrong decisions and it blown up in their faces. The stakeholders are angry and those in control are battling to survive. Let’s hope that RA doesn’t waste this crisis to get the reforms that is necessary to become a competitive nation…we may not get such a good opportunity again. I would park centralisation as it is going nowhere. Focus on the root cause of the problem so that RA can become an effective national governing body. Once that is resolved centralisation will become doable.
scrum
Roar Rookie
So yr way forward. I suspect “ sack RA”. Then what. Let the states run Rugby despite the fact that under their watch SR is not producing players capable of matching it at Test level. It seems to me you are more interested in assigning blame. Nothing unusual there, in our society it’s mandatory someone must be found at fault and hung drawn and quartered. Heaven forbid we focus on a plan for improvement. And in Ireland centralisation was a magic bullet.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
They can absolutely be sidelined, or totally remade. The national body is the representative body for the whole; the whole can choose to make it whatever they wish. That they don’t, or that some see the current form of it as sacrosanct, only highlights the extent to which they have wedged the different members. As you note, nothing is going to change unless all the states and unions get on the same page. But if they do manage that, almost the very first thing on the agenda would have to be whether the current form of RA is fit for purpose going forward.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
Sure, so has decentralisation. No system is a magic bullet, they are only as good as the parties involved. Therein lies Australia's problem, particularly when the national body seems solely interested in the professional arm of the code. It will inevitably result in misalignment and conflict, regardless of which way they go.
scrum
Roar Rookie
RA is the governing body, they cannot be sidelined. They control the income. The blame game achieves nothing but fermenting more distrust and dysfunction.
scrum
Roar Rookie
That’s no the actual truth but regardless sitting on your hands is an option, an option doomed to failure. Or we try to use Ireland as a model and learning opportunity to progress the game. All the HP experts are saying the same, these are the people who have been part of and seen the success. But heck let’s ignore them , it’s those bloody NSW people we have got to focus our energies on.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
We can’t use the IRFU model as IRFU constitution allows the IRFU to operate as a national governing body and not an extension of Munster or Leister. I would not classify RA as an independent governing body as it is behold to the interest of NSW.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
Can absolutely see the need for change, probably far more than you. My point is entirely that anything involving RA isn't going to be it...if there is any real chance of change, the first step needs to be a total, from the ground up, rebuild of the administration of Australian rugby. What has failed is RA, on many fronts, and the future can't involve it and all its baggage.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Scrum, the ball is in NSWRU’s court. No-one will give RA more power until they are independent of NSWRU. It is not working as NSW has too much influence to allow the other states to sign up to centralise. The root of the problem is not past behaviours, individuals or a lack of willingness to work together. These are all consequences of NSWRU having too much influence so that RA can’t function as a national governing body that pursue the national interests. NSW and RA interests gets conflated and we end up with soft appointments in key roles, a general unwillingness to find compromises and a lack of trust and accountability.
Cec
Roar Rookie
Yes agreed. Transparent communication towards mutual benefit is the only way forward.