Former Wallaby says few players likely to mourn chief's exit

SYDNEY - Former Wallabies vice-captain Toutai Kefu believes the World Cup runners-up will not necessarily lament the departure of Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill when he quits his post in February.

The Japan-bound No 8 has been a critic of the ARU managing director and suspected former team-mates would also recall the sense of betrayal they felt when O'Neill publicly criticised their form leading into the cup final with England last month.

"I can't speak for all of the players. All I know is some of them were pretty disappointed with some of the comments he made during the year," Kefu told The Australian newspaper.

Kefu, who missed the cup due to a shoulder injury, felt O'Neill crossed the line by commenting about team matters.

"He probably overstepped the mark a bit in making comments about selection and how the team was being run.

"I believe administrators administer, coaches coach, and players play."

O'Neill was critical of the Wallabies when they stuttered into the semifinal against the All Blacks, insisting it was time they delivered on the field considering all the resources that had been ploughed into their cup defence.

His criticism stung the players, who responded by upsetting New Zealand before losing to England in an extra-time final.

But Kefu admitted that O'Neill would be missed as an administrator.

In the eight years since O'Neill began his job as the ARU's managing director, its annual turnover rose from A$9 million ($10.43 million) to A$72 million. The World Cup netted the ARU a A$45 million profit.

"He has taken the game [of rugby] from where it was in Australia to a reasonably high level," Kefu conceded.

"In terms of administration, it is a huge loss."

Relations started to frost much earlier than the cup tournament, when the administration clashed with the players' association over the cup participation agreement.

"There is no doubt relations between the ARU and the players were at an all-time low," the head of the Players' Association, Tony Dempsey, said.

O'Neill, who presided over what is regarded as the most successful World Cup, decided last week to quit his A$750,000-a-year job 10 months before his term expired.

His departure from the ARU was described as "amicable" amid reports that he unsuccessfully sought a three-year extension from a divided board.

Rumours of a boardroom coup had been circulating after O'Neill got offside with New South Wales Rugby Union officials because of a speech he made in Sydney this year when he called for a broom to be put through the state union's administration.

Dempsey believes O'Neill made the right decision to quit.

The timing was right for John."

Dempsey said he was confident that relations would now improve.

- NZPA