Rugby Australia board meets to discuss chairman Hamish McLennan's future

The RA board met on Saturday morning after six member unions called for the boss to resign, with McLennan not invited to attend, before they reconvened for a second meeting later in the day.

The chairman attended the second meeting and requested another day to ponder his future before the states and territories commenced the process to trigger an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The request was granted, setting the scene for one of the biggest days in the sport's recent history on Sunday.

The situation comes after months of turmoil came to a head on Friday night, with the state and territories expressing a desire to overthrow the boss if he did not resign.

ACT Rugby, Queensland Rugby, Rugby WA, Rugby Union SA, Tasmanian Rugby and Northern Territory Rugby were signatories of the statement. NSW, Victoria and the Rugby Union Players Association were not included.

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The alliance has the necessary numbers to overthrow McLennan if the board does not oust the chair.

The chairman has stated his desire to remain in the top job and blasted the unions for dividing the sport.

Should he remain in the position, he has 60 days to call an Extraordinary General Meeting where the member unions will vote on his future.

McLennan's reign commenced in 2020 when the game was in the midst of a COVID crisis. Already operating in a financially challenging environment, the sport came close to going bankrupt.

The chairman of real estate company REA Group helped keep rugby afloat and negotiated a new TV rights deal with Channel 9 and Stan Sports after Foxtel ended a lengthy relationship.

The outspoken official also played a key role in winning hosting rights of the 2027 and 2029 men's and women's rugby World Cups.

Support for McLennan started to unravel, however, after he sacked former Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and lured Eddie Jones home in January.

The boss proudly labelled it a "captain's pick" and publicly took credit for the move. Months later, he played a key role in the recruitment of former schoolboy rugby star, and current Sydney Rooster, Joseph Sua'ali'i on a deal reportedly worth $4.8 million.

Frustration started to grow within the sport's playing ranks as McLennan spoke of his desire to poach some of the NRL's biggest names.

The Jones hire also quickly turned into a nightmare and the Wallabies suffered a historic group-stage exit at the World Cup in France.

It was around this time a planned private equity deal fell over and McLennan repeatedly spoke of his desire to save Australian rugby.

Behind the scenes, however, there was a growing sense he was having a negative impact on the sport. This feeling grew amid the botched handling of the centralisation process.

The Super Rugby franchises were aligned on alignment of their high-performance operations, however the Waratahs were the only team to support McLennan's total takeover of all aspects of the teams.

The Brumbies and Reds, in particular, were determined to retain control of their off-field operations and the situation quickly became messy.

An unwillingness to compromise led to RA sending in auditors to inspect the Brumbies books in an attempt to find a breach of licence and a chance to take over the franchise.

Even now, three months after centralisation was first announced, the teams have little details about what the new model looks like.

Ultimately, the botched handling of the process was the final straw, with the Reds and Brumbies playing a key role in the plot to overthrow McLennan.

The franchises, however, have reinforced Friday's statement was not about centralisation and has been in the works for more than two months amid a number of missteps from the RA board.

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