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Former Wallaby and World Cup winner Dan Herbert will need to hit the ground running as he begins his tenure as Rugby Australia chairman following the ousting of incumbent Hamish McLennan on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
It has been a difficult year for Australian rugby, culminating in the Wallabies\u2019 disappointing performance at the World Cup, Eddie Jones\u2019 sudden resignation as coach and the messy end to McLennan\u2019s three-year reign.<\/p>\n
Herbert is the man charged by the RA board with getting things back on track and on Monday he outlined his vision for the struggling code and what he thought were the most important issues facing the game.<\/p>\n
McLennan has been bullish on RA\u2019s need for centralisation and Herbert agrees it is vital to reform for the Wallabies and other national teams to prosper.<\/p>\n
Member unions which expressed their concerns as McLennan\u2019s leadership have all committed to supporting high-performance alignment but the Queensland Rugby Union and ACT Rugby have baulked at the prospect of RA taking commercial control of their businesses. Those discussions will continue in coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be uncomfortable for some people and it\u2019s not universally popular … but it\u2019s for the greater good,\u201d Herbert said on Monday. \u201cThe Wallabies are still extremely important. Not only are they the shopfront window, they drive so much of the revenue that comes through the game that then feeds the rest of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if we get that right, we will have a much better opportunity to fund the game better, to attract more people to play the game and it will put us in a position where sponsors want to pay more money to be attached to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herbert and the RA board will not rush the appointment of a Wallabies coach to replace Jones, who resigned late last month less than 10 months into a five-year deal.<\/p>\n
The Wallabies don\u2019t play a Test until July, when they face Wales on home soil, but RA is working towards a February timeline for the new head coach.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Steven Siewert<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t gone to market \u2026 and we won\u2019t until we [appoint] the high-performance director,\u201d Herbert said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to get the message across that changing a coach doesn\u2019t fix what\u2019s going on right now. I know it makes people feel better if we\u2019ve got a certain coach in place for a period of time, but eventually the scoreboard comes into play. That\u2019s when you get found out.\u201d<\/p>\n RA has started interviewing for the head of high-performance position, which will sit over the top of the Wallabies coach.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want that person to be front and centre in the process and hiring of the [Wallabies] coach,\u201d Herbert said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t take a short-term focus and we have to put the foundations in place and that starts with a good high-performance director.\u201d<\/p>\n Work is set to start shortly on the Wallabies\u2019 review, which will be run by Andrew Slack, Justin Harrison and Darlene Harrison.<\/p>\n Recommendations will be made to the board, although it is unclear yet whether findings from the review will be made public.<\/p>\n Jones has already contributed to the review following the Wallabies\u2019 worst ever World Cup performance, when they exited in the pool stages following historic losses to Fiji and Wales.<\/p>\nHead of high-performance role<\/h3>\n
Overlooking the Wallabies review<\/h3>\n
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