Hamish McLennan's tumultuous time as Rugby Australia chairman has come to an end after he was voted out from his role.
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting he was offered the chance to stay on as a director but has resigned from the board at an extraordinary general meeting.
"I lost the chair vote," McLennan told The Herald in a text.
"They asked me to stay on the board but I resigned immediately."
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McLennan had been on borrowed time after six state unions sent a letter of no confidence in his leadership. Queensland, ACT, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory were the six unions.
Former Wallabies centre Dan Herbert was voted in as interim chair.
"It has never been more important for the Rugby Australia board, working with member unions, to come together and execute the reform we absolutely need for an aligned high-performance system and to deliver on the commitments we have made, including to invest in community and women's rugby," Herbert said in a statement.
"Australia will host the British and Irish Lions Tour in 2025, the men's 2027 Rugby World Cup and the women's 2029 Rugby World Cup and the 2032 Olympic Games – the reform we progress now will underpin the competitiveness of our national teams, as well as building deeper engagement with the rugby community and fans everywhere.
"We note that the different member unions are not opposing Rugby Australia's centralisation proposals and remain committed to supporting high performance alignment."
Rugby Australia's meeting on Sunday was its fourth in two days after a horrific year that included being bundled out of the Rugby World Cup in the pool stages and the resignation of Eddie Jones last month.
Jones replaced Dave Rennie as coach only months before the World Cup.
McLennan had previously declared his defiance towards the no confidence letter, vowing to stay on as chairman.
"We do not believe Mr McLennan has been acting in the best interests of our game," the state unions' letter to the RA board read.
"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.
"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."
The board had previously been split on McLennan's tenure but a majority vote ended his time as chairman.
McLenna's replacement, Herbert, played 67 Tests for Australia and has been on the board since 2020.
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