Ten’s outgoing chief executive has reportedly lashed Rugby Australia over the circumstances of Raelene Castle’s resignation as Optus signalled an intention to further delay talks on a new broadcast deal.

The developments put the code into further turmoil as RA chairman Paul McLean prepares to sit down on Monday for talks with 10 former Wallabies captains who wrote a letter expressing their discontent at the state of rugby.

Ten boss Paul Anderson described the failure to keep the network in the loop about corporate leadership changes at RA as “deeply concerning”.

“Ten has been the free to air broadcaster and a major advocate for rugby in Australia for the best part of the last decade – I think the events of last week have been shameful,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“We are very concerned at what this means for the game.”

The newspaper also reported that Optus wanted to put off talks about a broadcast deal for 12 months, meaning RA would potentially have to extend their existing deal with Foxtel for another year.