Paul McLean expressed his “own personal disappointment” at the way Raelene Castle had been treated before she resigned yesterday, having lost the confidence of the board.
McLean, a former fly-half who won dozens of caps for the Wallabies, paid tribute to the trailblazing Kiwi, saying a lesser person would have thrown in the towel long ago.
Castle had, he said, been attacked in a “vicious and vitriolic way”, particularly on social media, by “silent forces, dark forces”.
“She shared some of that with me, which was, you know, I found quite abhorrent.”
Castle was the first woman to lead any of Australia’s major sports, reported AFP.
Her departure ends a turbulent reign marked by a series of crises and escalating financial problems.
The coronavirus shutdown piled further pressure on the cash-strapped governing body.
McLean said he would adopt the role of executive chairman “for a very short period” while the hunt begins for Castle’s replacement.
The ex-Wallaby captain also dismissed a letter from several of his fellow former skippers, calling for change at the top of the organisation.
“Let’s be clear here, it’s a very small collective of people who’ve been involved in the game of late,” McLean said. “The significance of that group is probably people that aren’t on the list.”
Two-time World Cup-winner John Eales was among a separate group of ex-captains who criticised the letter, while Michael Lynagh asked to be removed as a signatory.
McLean said that by December this year, two-thirds of Rugby Australia’s top positions will have changed in a year.
Rugby Australia laid off most of its staff and slashed players’ pay by 60% as it grapples with the coronavirus crisis, which looks set to torpedo much of this year’s Wallabies schedule.