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Why Eddie Jones is the ‘right man’ to turn Wallabies around
By Finn Morton
After helping the Wallabies retain the Bledisloe Cup in the early 2000s, dual international Mat Rogers “wouldn’t have believed” that Australia wouldn’t win it again for more than two decades.
The Wallabies won back the prestigious cup with a three-nil series sweep of the All Blacks in 1998. It was the start of something special for the men in gold.
Australia retained the cup for another four years – capping off half a decade of rugby dominance over their neighbouring rivals New Zealand.
For those in their early 20s, it’s somewhat unfathomable.
The All Blacks won back the prestigious cup in 2003, and they haven’t looked back since. New Zealand have been relentless in their pursuit of one of the biggest prizes in rugby for a Kiwi.
It means that much to them, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.
Playing in front of more than 83,000 people at the world-famous MCG last weekend, the All Blacks put on a clinic as they ran away with a comfortable 38-7 victory.
Australia showed glimpses of promise and plenty of fight, but it wasn’t nearly enough to send this series to a Bledisloe Cup decider.
The drought continues.
“The way things are going, they need some significant change for it not to be another 20 years,” former Wallaby Mat Rogers said on All Talk with Hello Sport.
“New Zealand are just a powerhouse.”
The Wallabies have started their new era under coach Eddie Jones with three consecutive defeats, and it doesn’t get any easier for them ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
Australia play the All Blacks again this weekend – this time on New Zealand soil – before taking on World Cup hosts France in Paris at the end of this month.
Many rugby fans would suggest that the Wallabies will go 0-5 under Jones going into their World Cup opener against Georgia.
But Rogers, who made his Test debut under coach Jones in 2002, isn’t panicking.
The former Wallaby is confident that Rugby Australia has “got the right man at the helm” ahead of more attempts at Bledisloe Cup redemption.
“I think they’ve got the right man at the helm to wrestle it back,” Rogers added. “It’s going to take some time.
“If there’s one thing Eddie Jones can do it’s create an upset in world rugby.
“He got Japan to beat South Africa, that’s unique. That’s a bigger upset than Australia beating New Zealand.
“I think they’ve got the right guy at the helm, I think it’s going to take a little bit of time – he’s still trying to work out who his team (is), who he can use, who he needs, where he needs to fill some gaps.
“Unfortunately he’s got to do it on the world stage because there’s no other place to do it when you’re the Australian coach.
“There are gonna be a few teething issues early.”
The Wallabies take on arch-rivals New Zealand at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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Latest Comments
Im guessing you never lived in NZ under r dern and red commie labour
We were forced and in some cases mandated to take the V - I know of 7 people who D taking it and many with untold injuries - Minimium 12 K D in NZ taking it - it was never safe never effective never worked just Maimed and K'd qe were close to being thrown into quarantine camps C was only a rebranded Flu
Oz Govt MOH have completed their c commission - they admit they never had the proveable data to make justify their statements and decisions & that the public will never accept it ever happening again - they fired rubber B into peaceful protestors Ardern is hated here ( 1 M patriots forced her out ) - bloomfield her side kick 2IC dr D excempted 11k from taking it - we (not u) know who they were the Pol and Public servants who knew they were fatal - A zeneca pulled it off the market due 2 excess D's - Japan banned them - called them stupid poison -
P M Shinzo Abe opposed the v and sent over a million doses back - because of that he was murdered - So were the heads of several African nations who also opposed the fake v they were k'd and their replacements allowed their countries to be swamped with them - C was V wasnt bought in fo C - C was bought in for the V
Im not here to talk politics but if u want to I can all day especially to a RED neck commie like you - whats it going to be Rugby or Politics or mud slinging give me something to think about - surprise me with something meaty - just not word salad
Go to commentsIt doesn’t matter how good your rugby team is, at the highest level you are going to have momentum swings in games.
Wales having a good ten minute period next week- and they will- doesn’t mean the Boks will be playing poorly.
It’s if you can make the most of it when you have the momentum. And the current group of springboks do enough when they create enough, as great teams do.
For comparison, the All Blacks played their best game of the year against France.
Still lost. And it’s only France’s second game so they aren’t firing at 100% yet.
The ABs haven’t got to that ruthless stage that the springboks are at yet.
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