"I will do whatever is needed to ensure an orderly handover. I wish the code and everyone who loves rugby nothing but the best and I would like to thank the people I work with and the broader rugby community for their enormous support." Clouds were gathering ominously above Castle's Pyrmont apartment on Thursday as speculation mounted she had less than a week left in the top job. Raelene Castle resigned as chief executive of Rugby Australia after less than two-and-a-half years in the job. Credit:Getty She was a late scratching from a crucial meeting with the state chairmen to go over RA's 2019 balance sheet and cash position. Less than 24 hours earlier, Castle's fellow directors excluded her from a board conference call on Wednesday night. She was unaware the meeting had taken place.

Castle's withdrawal from Thursday's balance sheet meeting was unexpected and unexplained to those present on the call, with chief financial officer Simon Rabbitt and new director Peter Wiggs left to steer the talks, which were the first opportunity for the Super Rugby chairs to size up RA's full financial picture. Loading The developments came as a board source told the Herald Castle would not see out next week at the helm of the business after losing the confidence of the board. The 48-year-old was not aware of any threat to her job when contacted through a spokesman. Indeed, she was scheduled to appear on the ABC's 7.30 current affairs program on Thursday night, recording an interview with presenter Leigh Sales earlier in the day. The search for a replacement

The biggest question the RA board will have to answer is who will replace her. There do not appear to be any internal candidates of sufficient experience or standing to fill the role, leaving the likely scenario that a director would be asked to step up in an interim capacity. Wiggs and World Cup-winning Wallaby Daniel Herbert would be the most qualified. Wiggs runs private equity firm Archer Capital and is chair of Supercars after Archer bought the business for a reported $180 million from SEL in 2011. It is now reportedly worth about half its purchase price and is in the middle of difficult broadcast negotiations to renew its deal with Fox Sports and Ten. Herbert is highly regarded in the game and is the most experienced sports administrator on the board, having served as Queensland Rugby Union executive general manager and chief commercial officer, among other roles, over an eight-year period. He is now chief executive officer of strata management firm SSKB. Outside the current board and administration, both Phil Kearns and Nick Farr-Jones have been touted as would-be successors, although the board would come in for fierce criticism if it made a permanent appointment without following a formal and independent recruitment process.

Loading However, Farr-Jones' involvement in a funding scandal while chairman of the NSW Rugby Union would likely come up for discussion. Farr-Jones used $56,000 of NSWRU money earmarked for Indigenous education to dole out a secret personal loan to former Wallaby Jim Williams in 2015. It was not paid back until some six months later. A federal government investigation cleared the World Cup-winning former captain of misusing federal funds. Kearns lost out to Castle when both applied to replace Pulver in 2017. He has been coy on whether he would throw his hat in the ring again, answering a direct question on the matter from Fox Sports this week with references to his contribution to the grassroots. Farr-Jones and Kearns led the charge this week on the explosive letter signed by 10 Wallabies captains and sent to interim chair Paul McLean. The letter calls for the current administration to step aside and for a special general meeting of the RA members to be convened by the end of the month.

Castle's final words In a pre-recorded interview with Leigh Sales - taped with no knowledge of what the day would hold - Castle addressed her handling of Israel Folau's sacking and speculation incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie could be spooked by the turmoil engulfing the game. "There's no doubt my being CEO [helped recruit Rennie]," she said. "I had the final conversation with Dave before he made that decision to come to Rugby Australia, and work with me. I have a leadership style he supports and would like to work with. "But ultimately, he knows like in any job, things can change. I know he has a desperate desire to coach the Wallabies and he has done a lot of work in the time leading up to when he arrives. He is excited about the young talent he sees coming through on our platforms, that was one of the major reasons he decided to sign with Rugby Australia and come here. "So he will come here regardless of where I sit but I would certainly like the opportunity to work with him because together I think we can deliver some really great outcomes."

Most of Castle's reign was dominated by the Folau saga, which resulted in his sacking and the two parties settling out of court over an unlawful termination claim. His first homophobic social media comments were posted in April 2018, three months into her spell at the top, and the settlement was only reached last December. Castle stood by her handling of the issue. "I don't think you could go through a situation like that and not look back and think there are some things you could have done differently. In fact many, many of my sporting colleagues from around the world rang me, as did many business leaders, and said 'goodness me, that really made me and made us really think about what we would do in our own businesses if that same situation presented itself', because it was unprecedented. I don't think you could go through a situation like that and not look back and think there are some things you could have done differently. Raelene Castle "That's something we all learned from and we all worked through. Ultimately we asked Israel not to do something because we believed it threatened the values of Rugby Australia. We had to make a decision on that. We had a group of sponsors who sign up with us and engage in rugby because of our values, and it's very important to us. We had to make a decision we thought was in the best interests of our sport. We did that. We stood up for our values and we wouldn't have made any different decision."