Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has asked Australian rugby factions to stop airing their differences through the media.

The New Zealander left the Glasgow Warriors to replace former head coach Michael Cheika, who departed after the Wallabies’ quarter-final exit at the 2019 World Cup.

Following Cheika’s exit, there has been a massive shake-up at Rugby Australia as chief executive Raelene Castle resigned from her job in April after coming under fire from a cluster of former Wallaby captains. Acting RA chairman Paul McLean also claimed that Castle had been bullied by ‘dark forces’ on social media.

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In recent drama, Rugby Australia implemented pay cuts across the board to cope with the financial strain of the Covid-19 pandemic and then tore up the contract of promising lock Izack Rodda after he refused to accept the enforced pay cut.

‘Things have been a bit messy and that’s putting it mildly,’ Rennie said in a conference on Friday.

‘An enormous amount of stuff has come out in the press and that’s one thing I’d like to stop. A lot of discussions need to happen behind closed doors.

‘But there are lots of good things happening in Australian rugby,’ he added. ‘The Super Rugby coaches have given us a lot of access to the players and we’ve done a lot of work with those guys.’

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