SYDNEY: Australian rugby was plunged further into crisis yesterday when under-fire coach Ewen McKenzie resigned a few hours before the Wallabies were beaten 29-28 by New Zealand in Brisbane.
McKenzie, who took over from Robbie Deans just over a year ago, had come under pressure for his role in the row over offensive text messages Kurtley Beale allegedly sent to a team official in June.
Beale faces a Code of Conduct hearing into the affair next week but it has already caused two weeks of turmoil which have made Australian rugby a laughing stock around the world.
McKenzie informed the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) of his decision yesterday morning and announced his resignation after the last-gasp defeat to the world champions at Lang Park.
“I was going to go, win lose or draw tonight, I’ve just told the team,” he told a news conference.
Last week the 49-year-old was forced to deny he had been involved in an intimate relation with Di Patston, the official at the centre of the Beale row, and faced the accusation that he had lost the support of senior players over her role with the team.
“I think Australian rugby has lost a very good man today,” ARU chief executive Bill Pulver told reporters in Brisbane.
“In essence, Ewen said he was going to struggle to retain the level of support he needs from the playing group and, in my view, because of the character assassination he’s suffered in the last two weeks.
“The attack on Ewen was relentless and essentially left him with the view it set him too far back to be an effective rugby coach.” The defeat to the All Blacks was a third straight loss for the Wallabies after defeats in South Africa and Argentina over last month and left McKenzie with 50 percent winning record in his 22 matches.REUTERS
