Rugby Australia [RA] has unveiled former Wallabies flanker Phil Waugh as its new chief executive, the 79-Test veteran stepping into the role vacated by Andy Marinos.
Long rumoured to be the man to replace Marinos, chairman Hamish McLennan confirmed Waugh's appointment on Tuesday afternoon in a move that is widely viewed as a "captain's pick".
Waugh will officially move from the RA board and into the CEO position after Marinos finishes up in the coming weeks. The former Waratahs skipper first joined the board in 2018 as a non-executive director and has since worked alongside Marinos and former Wallabies centre Daniel Herbert on the organisation's rugby committee, including projects such as the Overseas Player Selection Policy [Giteau Law].
Marinos announced his resignation in early May, the South African stepping down after just over two years in the role. It is believed a cooling of his working relationship with McLennan was a contributing factor to his decision to step away.
Waugh's appointment, meanwhile, will be viewed with an air of skepticism in some quarters and a return to Rugby Australia's trend of appointing CEOs from Sydney's lower north shore.
While Castle preceded Marinos in the role, the RA CEO role was previously held by Bill Pulver under then-chairman Michael Hawker, who both attended Sydney's Shore School; it is the same institution where both McLennan and Waugh were educated.
Pulver had meanwhile replaced John O'Neill in the top job after the popular chief executive's second stint at RA came to an end in 2013.
Waugh assumes the role at an exciting and critical juncture for the code Down Under, with the British & Irish Lions series, two Rugby World Cups and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics all set to be held in Australia over the next nine years.
RA is also preparing to field offers from private equity firms which could inject more than $[AU]200m into the game in a similar move to that made by New Zealand Rugby [NZR] and its commercial partnership with investment group Silver Lake.
However, RA's relationship with its Super Rugby Pacific and SANZAAR partner NZR is at the same time thought to be tenuous, with both sides recently firing pot shots across the Tasman at one another.