Find the full letter calling for Hamish McLennan to resign at the bottom of the story.
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The ACT Brumbies have called for Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan to resign after the Eddie Jones debacle.
They joined forces with five other states and territories to call for McLennan to step down after he oversaw Jones's appointment - that led to Australia's disastrous World Cup campaign.
Six Rugby Australia member unions - the ACT, who run the Brumbies, Queensland, West Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory - have joined forces to write to the Rugby Australia board to call for McLennan's immediate resignation.
NSW were a notable absentee from the letter.
It's a bitter blow for rugby during what can only be described as a disastrous period.
The Brumbies have been at war with Rugby Australia since it emerged the national body was trying to complete what some described as a "hostile takeover" of the Canberra franchise.
Brumbies chairman Matt Nobbs and McLennan were once close allies. But trust between the two has eroded and they now appear to be bitter enemies.
McLennan has been a key driver in the centralisation push and the Brumbies have voiced their concerns about being moved out of Canberra in the future. McLennan has moved to allay their concerns, but club officials don't trust the guarantee.
The NSW Waratahs have already handed in the keys under the centralisation proposal, but the Brumbies and Queensland have been resisting.
It has led to threats of legal action after Rugby Australia sent auditors into Brumbies HQ to examine financial documents in an attempt to determine if the Brumbies were, or had ever been, insolvent.
If they were found to have been insolvent, Rugby Australia said it would revoke the Brumbies' Super Rugby licence.
The Brumbies and Queensland have agreed to high-performance alignment, but are staunchly fighting Rugby Australia's desire to take control of commercial operations.
It comes not long after the Wallabies bombed out of the World Cup and less than a year after McLennan sacked Dave Rennie to appoint Jones.
It proved a disastrous move with the Wallabies getting knocked out at the group stage of the World Cup for the first time.
Jones stepped down following the campaign and has already moved to become the Japan coach.
He was less than a year into a five-year deal.
"We, the undersigned member unions of Rugby Australia, are calling for the chair, Hamish McLennan, to immediately resign as chair and director of Rugby Australia," the letter reads.
"We do not believe Mr McLennan has been acting in the best interests of our game.
"We no longer have any trust or faith in his leadership, or the direction in which he is taking rugby in Australia.
"Additionally, we believe Mr McLennan has been acting outside his role as a director, exerting an undue influence on the operations and executives of Rugby Australia.
"This is not the best practice governance that we expect from leaders in our game."
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Despite initially hailing the Jones signing as a coup for Australian rugby, McLennan has since moved to distance himself as the main man behind the decision.
The six unions said if McLennan didn't step down then their letter called for an extraordinary general meeting.
"Should Mr McLennan not resign, this letter serves as notice for directors to convene an extraordinary general meeting at the earliest possible opportunity, as per clause 4.1c of the Rugby Australia constitution," it said.
"This request is not about opposition to Rugby Australia's centralisation proposals- we remain committed to supporting high-performance alignment.
"This is instead a deep concern about the performance of Mr McLennan as chair, and the damage done to the game by his performance.
"We have not made this decision lightly.
"After deliberation and discussion, we decided we must take action in order to protect the reputation and future of our game."
The letter said McLennan had done massive harm to the game of rugby.
It also accused him of failing to treat female rugby fairly, with a sole focus on the men.
"Governance and high-performance sport are about judgement - good judgement," the letter said.
"During the past 12 months Mr McLennan has made a series of calls that have harmed the standing and reputation of our game and led us to question his judgement and his understanding of high-performance sport.
"His decisions and 'captain's picks' have directly led to an historic failure at the men's Rugby World Cup and a Wallabies international ranking at an historic low, with all of the regrettable and public fallout that came with it.
"In addition to this, Mr McLennan's use of player poaching to threaten other sports and boost our own stocks and performance alienates us from having collaborative conversations with the other major sports to improve participation across the Australian community.
"It also disenfranchises our budding professional female and community rugby participants, by only focusing on elite men's participation, which is a small component of our national game."
ACT Rugby chair Nobbs said McLennan clearly wasn't the right person to take Australian rugby forward.
"It's obvious that if we are to regain the respect, trust and confidence of the international and national rugby communities' as well as the wider Australian public, we need renewed leadership," he said.
"Hamish has done a number of positive things for Australian rugby but, on balance, it's clear, he is not the right person to take us forward.
"Trust is at the heart of any change and for ACT Rugby to work with Rugby Australia, we need to focus on rebuilding a trusting relationship, which won't happen under the current chair."
Queensland chairman Brett Clark added: "We as member unions of Australian Rugby have a duty to protect the reputation of our game.
"Some of the leadership decisions that have been made over the past few years demonstrate the current chair is not the right cultural fit for how we want our game to be represented in our country and globally.
"That is why we are asking Hamish to stand down from the chair role, as we believe it's in the best interests of our game."
LETTER TO RUGBY AUSTRALIA BOARD
We, the undersigned Member Unions of Rugby Australia, are calling for the Chair, Hamish McLennan, to immediately resign as Chair and Director of Rugby Australia.
We do not believe Mr McLennan has been acting in the best interests of our game.
We no longer have any trust or faith in his leadership, or the direction in which he is taking rugby in Australia.
Additionally, we believe Mr McLennan has been acting outside his role as a director, exerting an undue influence on the operations and executives of Rugby Australia.
This is not the best practice governance that we expect from leaders in our game.
Should Mr McLennan not resign, this letter serves as notice for Directors to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting at the earliest possible opportunity, as per clause 4.1c of the Rugby Australia Constitution.
This request is not about opposition to Rugby Australia's centralisation proposals- we remain committed to supporting high-performance alignment.
This is instead a deep concern about the performance of Mr McLennan as Chair, and the damage done to the game by his performance.
We have not made this decision lightly.
After deliberation and discussion, we decided we must take action in order to protect the reputation and future of our game.
Governance and high-performance sport are about judgement - good judgement.
During the past 12 months Mr McLennan has made a series of calls that have harmed the standing and reputation of our game and led us to question his judgement and his understanding of high-performance sport.
His decisions and "captain's picks" have directly led to an historic failure at the men's Rugby World Cup and a Wallabies international ranking at an historic low, with all of the regrettable and public fallout that came with it.
In addition to this, Mr McLennan's use of player poaching to threaten other sports and boost our own stocks and performance alienates us from having collaborative conversations with the other major sports to improve participation across the Australian community.
It also disenfranchises our budding professional female and community rugby participants, by only focusing on elite men's participation, which is a small component of our national game.
There has been much discussion about required changes within rugby to improve the overall performance of our national teams.
The member unions are not shying away from this change and can see the long-term benefits that national high-performance alignment can bring.
But this will only happen if we have trust and faith in the leadership at Rugby Australia, and there is a clear strategy that outlines the process to achieve this.
To date, despite months of media speculation and commentary from Rugby Australia, the Board and executive have brought us no substantive strategy or any outline of how centralisation would work.
Over coming years there are a range of opportunities off which our game can prosper, including the British and Irish Lions Tour in 2025, the Mens' Rugby World Cup in 2027 and the Womens' Rugby World Cup in 2029.
In order for us to seize these opportunities, our game must focus on growing our participation base in community, schools and women's rugby.
This will require trust and collaboration across the game.
If we don't make the necessary changes to the leadership of our game now, these opportunities will be lost and our game will continue to flounder for decades to come.
We are supportive of an independent recruitment process for a new Chair, one that involves consultation with all Constitutional Members.
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