'We have to get rid of the entire [Australian] board and start again'
A former leader in Australian media has called for a complete cleanout of Rugby Australia, calling for Raelene Castle to follow the lead of departing chairman Cameron Clyne.
David Leckie, the former chief executive of the Seven Media Group, didn't pull any punches in his assessment of the sport's national body, with a particular focus on Castle.
"We have to get rid of the entire board and start again," Leckie told the Australian. "There's not a single person on it who deserves to remain there.
"Raelene has been a total disaster. She doesn't know rugby, she doesn't know Australia and, judging by her time at Canterbury (Bulldogs), she doesn't know how to manage a salary cap.
"She buggered that club. Central to your role when you're the general manager of a club, is salary cap. That's your first, first and first priority."
Leckie's comments come a day after rugby Australia announced the signing of Kiwi Dave Rennie as the next Wallabies coach, following the departure of Michael Cheika after the Rugby World Cup.
Cheika stood down from his post as Wallabies coach after five rough seasons in which the Wallabies won just 34 of his 68 games in charge.
Speaking to Radio Sport's D'Arcy Waldegrave on Wednesday, Castle said Rennie's signing was an exciting one for the organization.
"He was by far and away the most outstanding candidate," Castle said.
"We believed he was the best fit not only from a performance coaching point of view but also a cultural point of view and his experience in bringing groups of people together is very sound.
"Dave's proven ability both at the Chiefs and what he's done in a short time with the Glasgow Warriors to bring together a group of men and build a culture where they all want to work together toward the same thing is one of his best skill sets and that's something we know will be very valuable to us.
"We had a plan and we worked really hard to execute it."
This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and is republished with permission.
It was a poor Rugby World Cup from the Wallabies, who failed to beat another tier-one side:
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The difference between Fassi and Le Roux?
Almost 100 tests. Fassi is growing from test to test and is already world class. It’s going to be difficult for Damian Willemse to usurp Fassi at 15 and may find himself destined as the utility back on the bomb squad.
South Africans love hating on their fullback. A proud tradition since Percy Montgomery (before he won us a World Cup). So I don’t pay much mind to the noise that follows anyone who puts on the 15 jersey for SA.
15 is a high risk, low reward position. You don’t dare drop a high ball, certainly don’t shank a kick into the stands. In fact if you’re not kicking 60m torpedoes into the opposition corners - stay at home.
And miss tackles? After everyone else on the team has let a break through - best you not miss!
Only Andre Joubert strikes me as a fullback that has been better than Willie. Yet Willie has been widely panned on a regular basis. Irritating.
Fassi is great. And I’m sure he’s learning a lot from Willie.
Go to commentsNo, Penney's win rate as a Super Rugby coach BEFORE he was given a 2 year contract here, was 23%. He came in with a very poor success rate at SR level.
This loser vibe was borne out over the SR season where we won only 4 games while losing 10. Finishing 9th in a 12 team competition & missing a QF spot was next level DOWN.
There's zero evidence that suggests we will win 10 games (70%) as you predict. I understand there may be new assistant coaches coming on board. At this stage, we can only hope for the best.
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