Eddie Jones reflects on Wallabies’ World Cup ‘disappointment’
Australia’s Rugby World Cup campaign is all but over. Barring an incredible upset on Sunday between Portugal and Fiji, the Wallabies will bow out at the pool stage for the first time ever.
With coach Eddie Jones at the helm, the Wallabies started their campaign with a promising 35-15 win over Georgia in their tournament opener at Stade de France.
But their next two matches defined the Wallabies' tournament. Australia were beaten by Fiji in Saint-Etienne and then suffered a record World Cup defeat to Wales in Lyon.
The Wallabies bounced back with a hard-fought 34-14 win over Portugal at Stade Geoffrey-Guichard on Sunday evening, but they aren’t in control of their own destiny.
If Fiji fails to register even a losing bonus point against Los Lobos in the final match in pool play at this year’s World Cup, then the Wallabies will live to fight another day.
"The disappointment is we haven't controlled our own destiny,” Jones said after the 20-point win over Portugal in Saint-Etienne.
“In a pool stage, you want to control your own destiny and we haven't done that. As I've said, I take full responsibility for that.
“What am I pleased with? When I look at the squad and I look at the number of players that have improved individually then I am really pleased. A lot of these players have really bright futures, as this team does.
"If we keep sticking at it, keep working hard, keep focusing on what's important then we will be a good team and won't have this sombreness that's around Australian rugby at the moment."
There are some serious questions that remain unanswered about Jones’ future with the Wallabies. The 07 World Cup winner penned a five-year deal in January but has failed to deliver.
The Wallabies will likely finish their first year with coach Jones back in the hot seat with an undesirable record of seven losses from nine Tests.
Jones, 63, has also been linked with a move to Japan following a report from The Sydney Morning Herald which suggested he’d interviewed for their soon-to-be vacant head coach position.
Following the win over Portugal, and ahead of the Wallabies’ bye week, Jones was asked about his future once again.
"I am going to have three days off then three days of training so I'm heavily involved. That's the only answer I am going to give you at this stage. I don't mean to be rude, but I have got to focus on coaching this week,” Jones added.
"It's three days off. Do you want to know where I'm going to go? I'll have to make something up as I have no idea at this stage. Maybe take some cava to Fiji, maybe that might work. I'm thinking of giving Marika [Koroibete] and [other players] credit cards."
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Claims that Finau is a risky proposition are hyperbole. His tackles have been mostly perfectly timed and executed except for the Lynach one and that was a split-second out, certainly not 2 seconds. Social media criticism shows opposition fans are nervous about Finau’s impact. I see Jacobson and Blackadder as no.7s, they don’t have the power, size or dynamism to be 6 or 8 at Test level. Akira has shown he lacks the intuition and technique to play Tests. If he learnt to bend his back more and hit breakdowns and tackles low and hard, it would do wonders for his game. Finau is the standout option for 6 with Grace or Shields as his backup. I’d like to see Finau, Sotutu and Jacobson as an experimental back-row combo; lineout nous, dynamic ball carrying, hard defence, etc.
Go to commentsI find these articles so very interesting, giving a much more in depth series of insights than one can ever gain from “desktop” research. It is very significant that it is this English man that Joe Schmidt has turned to build the basement stability and reliability from the WB forwards that was so shredded during the Jones debacle. With his long period in Ireland, with both Leinster and Ireland, Schmidt will know Geoff Parling’s qualities as a player well, and he will have gone over, with a fine tooth comb, the mans time in Australia. This, one feels, will prove to be a shrewd decision. I’m particularly interested in Parling’s comments about the lineout, especially the differences in approach between the hemispheres. He talks about the impact of weather conditions on the type of lineout tactics employed. He is the right man to have preparing for a wet and windy game at Eden Park, the “Cake Tin”, or in Christchuch, or for that matter in Capetown. I must confess to being surprised by this comment though re Will Skelton: “ Is he a lineout jumper? No. But the lineout starts on the ground – contact work, lifting, utilising that massive body at the maul.” Geoff is spot on about the work Will does on the ground. But I would contest the view that he is not a lineout jumper. I think I have commented before on this one, so won’t go further than referring to the end of the last Cup Final in Dublin, LAR using Will on maybe 3 occasions at No 2 in the lineout. And I have seen him used by LAR in Top 14, and never seen him beaten to the catch…but in reality that would only be a total of 10 times max.
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