‘That’s not the point’: Ex-Wallaby Phil Kearns defends Hamish McLennan

Former Wallaby Phil Kearns has come in to bat for out-of-favour Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan after six states publicly called for his resignation on Friday night.

In a decisive development, the Queensland, ACT, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory unions sent a letter to McLennan and the Board of Rugby Australia.

The New South Wales and Victoria Rugby Unions were not approached by the signatories to the letter due to their ongoing negotiations with Rugby Australia, and nor was the Rugby Union Players Association.

While the member unions have given McLennan until 5 pm on Saturday to “consider his position” – as per a Queensland Rugby Union statement – the RA boss has insisted that he’s not going anywhere.

If McLennan refuses to walk away, then the six signatories will request an Extraordinary General Meeting of Rugby Australia to pass a resolution to remove the RA boss.

While rugby fans continue to watch the clock as the countdown to the deadline ticks ever closer, well-respected former Wallaby Phil Kearns has publicly defended McLennan.

“People will blame Hamish for the performance of the Wallabies at the World Cup. In hindsight, the selection of Eddie was a bad choice. But I don’t think anyone can cop the blame for that apart from Eddie and the players and predominantly Eddie,” Kearns told The Roar.

“But that’s not the point. Hamish has done a lot of other things that have been good.

“We were about to get into administration, and we didn’t. He got the debt deal and sorted that. He got a television deal done, he got Cadbury on board as a major sponsor, he got Twiggy and Nicola Forest supporting the Western Force. People are looking at the on-field stuff and not recognising the off-field stuff.

“The second thing I would say is the states are the problem, not RA. It’s clear every time someone wants to implement change and usually it’s got to do with the states, they fight against it and stop it.”

McLennan has come under fire following the Wallabies’ woeful Rugby World Cup campaign which saw the Aussies fail to make it past the pool stage for the first time ever.

Former coach Jones was in charge, but the 63-year-old has since resigned just nine months after taking over from Dave Rennie in the Wallabies’ hot seat.

Both decisions have come back to haunt McLennan, and the decision to sign Sydney Roosters teenager Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii on a lucrative deal has also drawn mixed reviews.

But McLennan insists that he isn’t the problem.

“This will be the defining moment for the battle of rugby. It’s all about money and control and we have been failing for years. We live in interesting times,” McLennan told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“This is about principles. They are actually not putting the game first and it’s about self-interest and parochialism.”