Hamish McLennan is backing Eddie Jones.Credit:Steven Siewert,Getty Images
What about the other parts of Rugby Australia leadership – the board and the chief executive? What level of accountability should they take?
The board and the CEO are largely new,excellent in skills and fully independent. And they know what needs to be done. This moment has to be a pivotal moment in time,where we all come together to solve all of the structural issues in the game.
Do you regret sacking Dave Rennie and hiring Eddie Jones,given the Wallabies’ exit in the pool stages of a Rugby World Cup?
The game has really gone backwards since the 2015 final of the Rugby World Cup. We were kicked out in the quarter-finals in 2019,quite convincingly,by England and we lost a pool match to Wales. So,the data would suggest the game has been going backwards for some time. The reason we made the change at the beginning of the year was we knew it was a real possibility[under the old regime] that this could happen,so perhaps this is a case of too little,too late. Eddie Jones has delivered three different countries to a Rugby World Cup final and so I think it is too simplistic to blame one person. Eddie has the respect of[former All Blacks coach] Steve Hansen and other legendary coaches from around the world. I have been saying for three years the game needs constitutional and structural reform and now is the time to do it.