Why Eddie Jones has taken ‘full responsibility’ for Wallabies’ ‘terrible’ loss

Head coach Eddie Jones has taken “full responsibility” for the Wallabies’ disastrous 38-7 loss to the All Blacks at the MCG, which saw the New Zealanders retain the Bledisloe Cup.

With more than 83,000 rugby fans in the stands, the Wallabies were met with a deafening cheer from the crowd as they made their way out onto the sacred turf at 7.50 pm on Saturday.

Following the national anthems, the All Blacks laid down their challenge with a passionate Kapo o Pango haka. But the Wallabies, at least by looking at them, appeared to be up for the task.

The Wallabies, who had started their year with back-to-back defeats, refused to throw in the towel after conceding an early try. Australia ended up being the better team during the opening 20 minutes.

But the All Blacks showed their class when it counted. Tries to Codie Taylor and Will Jordan saw the visitors take a 12-point lead into the half-time break.

Following an intense start to the second term, New Zealand put on an attacking clinic during the final quarter of the contest.

Backs Caleb Clarke, Rieko Ioane and Mark Telea all added to the All Blacks’ score, and Richie Mo’unga had a try disallowed as well.

The Wallabies had shown glimpses of promise during periods of the Test, but their efforts were ultimately in vain. History may suggest that this was a one-sided contest, but it was anything but.

As coach Eddie Jones said after the match, Australia just “ran of gas” towards the end of the match – players were “struggling” to keep up with the All Blacks.

But Jones wasn’t pinning the blame on his Wallabies.

“In my experience with teams is that sometimes when you’re trying to play a different way, you can do it for periods at a time and then you can’t do it anymore,” Jones told reporters.

“We want to play freer and we want to attack the opposition, and when we did that in the first 20 we were really good, and then we got into some bad habits again.

“It’s a terrible result, I take full responsibility for it, but I’m pleased with the way players applied them in the full 20 – and the first little bit of the second half.

“We had them under a fair bit of pressure for a long period in the second half but again, we got no points out of it.”

Following the Wallabies’ loss to Argentina earlier this month, coach Jones made seven changes to his starting side ahead of Bledisloe I at the MCG.

Rising star Carter Gordon was named for his first start in Wallaby gold, and joined Queensland Reds co-captain Tate McDermott in a new-look halves duo.

The pair showed glimpses of brilliance early on, but things took a turn as the All Blacks found their groove.

Gordon made some costly errors, and McDermott never had no opportunities to run the ball or snipe around the breakdown.

But, when asked about why he was taking responsibility for the loss, Jones insisted that his selection decisions were still the “right” calls.

“Someone’s got to take responsibility for the loss,” he added. “It’s the head coach that takes responsibility for it.

“I thought the players are working hard, trying really hard, trying to play a different way and I’m really appreciative of their efforts.”

Earlier in the week, blindside flanker Jed Holloway said that coach Jones was trying to “break” some of the Wallabies’ poor habits.

Poor discipline cost the Wallabies in thrilling Tests under former coach Dave Rennie, and the same issue has continued to persist under Jones.

“Obviously very disappointed about the result, the scoreline. That’s a real negative for us.

“Big crowd, we wanted to show that this was a new team, but, and there’s always a but, our first 20 (minutes) I thought we showed what we are capable of.

“At the moment when we put pressure on we can’t convert that pressure to points and we release pressure. We still seem to get disappointed on the field when we don’t get the rewards that we think we deserve which is an area we’re continuing to work on.

“All in all disappointing but I really liked the way we came out in the first 20 in the first half, and the first 15 or 20 of the second half as well. But we couldn’t convert that to points.

“They scored four of their six tries when we had yellow cards, and they made us pay for that.”

The Wallabies have started their new era under legendary coach Jones with three losses from as many starts. Australia finished last in this year’s shortened Rugby Championship campaign.

It doesn’t get any easier for them, either. Australia will look to avenge the defeat against the All Blacks in Dunedin next weekend.