Why Eddie Jones is the ‘right man’ to turn Wallabies around
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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All of these media pundits always miss the obvious whenever they analyse what is ailing or assisting the game. Rugby always has contentious points for debate when picking apart individual games and finding fault with itself. All this focus and scrutiny on “speeding up the game”, “high ball in play” etc is all contextual to the fan. As a tv viewer, if you’re absorbed into a game, regardless if your team is playing or not, more ball in play time and action are all byproducts of the contest. A good contest subliminally affects your memory in selectively remembering all the good aspects. A poor contest and your brain has switched off because its a blowout and the result is never in doubt or it’s a real chore to watch and remain engaged throughout. The URC, Top 14 and English premiership are all competitions that feel like there’s real jeopardy each week. The dominance of Super rugby by NZ teams was unhealthy from a sustainable interest perspective. You can’t fault those teams or the players, but the lack of competitions won by SA and Australian teams long term was always going to test the faith and patience of die-hard and casual fans from those regions. SANZAR took their eye off the fans and fans voted with their feet and subscriptions. They were so concerned about expanding their product they forgot the golden rule about broadcasting live sport. Viewers tune in more when there’s an atmosphere and a true contest. You need to fill stadiums to create one, host unions need to do more to service ticket buyers, and this year proves the other, there’s more interest in Super rugby this year only because more games are competitive with less foregone conclusions. All these micro statistics bandied about, only interest the bean counters and trainspotters.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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