Watch: A shell-shocked Eddie Jones reacts to Wallabies rout
A clearly shaken Eddie Jones has outlined the key fixes the Wallabies need to make if they are get 'back in the money' after a disasterous opening day at the office for the new head coach.
Australia suffered a crushing 43-12 defeat against South Africa in Pretoria, extending their miserable 60-year winless streak at Loftus Versfeld.
A downcast Jones told Stan Sport that he believes the Wallabies can get 'back in the money' against Argentina after what was a clearly disappointing day at the office.
"We just got beaten to the punch. We really got beaten in the set piece. We got beaten on the game line, we got beaten in the air and when you don't win any of those contests, it's gonna be a long day in the office, which it was for us today.
"There wasn't too many positives today. But we went out there to play with a bit of pace and we were able to do that for 20 minutes but we weren't able to convert any of the pressure we we put on the Springboks into points and then and then of course, the Springboks came back and every time they got an opportunity, they converted into points.
Jones was asked about the Wallabies' worrying inability to win collisions against a super physical South African side.
"Yeah, well, it starts with the set piece. Once they're on top of the set piece, and then they've got their big ball runners, and there's no better team than South Africa, once they get an edge, to keep playing on top of you.
"And look, you know, we've got we've got to identify the two or three areas and one certainly is the consistency of our setpiece. There are possibly opportunities for us to be more dominant in the lineout and we didn't take advantage of that. Our scrum definitely needs to be a continual work on and then we've got to find ways to get over the gain line. So if we fix those against Argentina and we'll be back in the money."
Jones did single out Marika Koroibete for praise, the winger scoring a scintallating try in the opening minutes of the contest. He also lauded Carter Gordon who did well a difficult situation coming off the bench.
"I thought Marika was absolutely outstanding you know and and Carter coming on in his first test in a in a difficult situation show that he's going to be upload future."
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> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
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