{"id":335754,"date":"2023-10-02T22:19:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T22:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=335754"},"modified":"2023-10-03T00:02:10","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T00:02:10","slug":"messy-restaurant-scene-as-angry-fan-confronts-ra-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=335754","title":{"rendered":"'Messy' restaurant scene as angry fan confronts RA boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rugby Australia<\/a> chairman Hamish McLennan has revealed an altercation with a Wallabies<\/a> fan in France where he claims he could have been assaulted.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies are on the verge of missing the World Cup<\/a> quarter-finals for the first time ever, having lost two pool games and must now rely on Fiji capitulating against Portugal on Monday (AEDT).<\/p>\n

The backlash to the nightmare results has focused largely on coach Eddie Jones<\/a>, who made the controversial decision to leave experienced campaigners Michael Hooper<\/a> and Quade Cooper<\/a> at home while favouring youth in France, despite also claiming Australia could win the tournament.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Kangaroos bolter 'impossible to deny' as skipper faces axe\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Rugby Australia spills on 'bitterly disappointing' World Cup<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\ufeffREAD MORE:<\/strong> Australian Open makes big change after 4.05am finish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But as the man who sacked Dave Rennie to hire Jones earlier this year, McLennan has not escaped the ire of disgruntled Wallabies fans who have been humiliated by the team's performances.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Speaking to the UK Telegraph, McLennan revealed he was at a restaurant in Lyon with family members when a Wallabies fan sat down at his table and placed a glass of milk in front of him.<\/p>\n

"He ordered me to drink it," McLennan said.<\/p>\n

"I took a sip. He told me milk was what all he and his family were all drinking following the Wales defeat.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the home of rugby, Stan Sport. <\/strong><\/em>Every match ad free, live and on demand in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

"He sat there for 10 minutes. He was particularly aggrieved, which I understand, but I think he crossed the line. It got so messy I thought he was going to swing a punch at me or try to glass me.<\/p>\n

"It was ugly, and it was embarrassing for me in front of the family and everyone was shocked. I haven't told anyone before now apart from friends. I guess it is just a sign of the times."<\/p>\n

\"Question<\/p>\n

Despite the angry backlash from Wallabies fans, McLennan has no regrets over the decision to hire Jones in a World Cup year.<\/p>\n

"The pile-on is there, but we have got to think long term," he said.<\/p>\n

"We've got to think about centralisation, better recruitment of players, better retention of players to stop them going overseas, fix our media rights and continue to get sponsors on board for both men and women and promote the game. And doing all that while there is not a lot of money in the bank.<\/p>\n

"Rugby in Australia has suffered from short-termism and I have said since day one we have to think long term and 2027 will be our moment."<\/p>\n

If Fiji earns one point or more against Portugal – which can be earned either by winning, scoring four tries which gains them a bonus point, or losing by less than seven points, which also accrues a bonus point – the Wallabies will be on a plane home.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has revealed an altercation with a Wallabies fan in France where he claims he could have been assaulted. The Wallabies […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":290197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=335754"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335758,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335754\/revisions\/335758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/290197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=335754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=335754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=335754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}