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'Let's be honest': Why Kiwi pundit is 'scared' of Eddie Jones' Wallabies
By Finn Morton
Eddie Jones hasn’t been back in Australia for long, but the legendary coach has already made an impression across the ditch.
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Harbouring World Cup ambitions, Rugby Australia made the surprising decision in January to replace Dave Rennie with former England boss Eddie Jones.
Jones, who is still yet to coach the Wallabies this year, has already made his mark on the sport Down Under.
The 63-year-old is box office – something the sport has needed in Australia for quite some time.
To put it simply, Jones has proven time and time again that he’s a winner.
Everywhere he goes, success seems to follow him.
After leading the Wallabies to a World Cup final in 2003, he went on to win the sport’s most prestigious trophy with the Springboks in 2007.
From there, Jones coached Japan to a famous win over the Springboks in 2015, and England to a World Cup final in 2019.
Former All Blacks Sevens star and Sky Sport broadcaster Karl Te Nana said he’s “scared” of what the Wallabies could look like under Jones.
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“Everywhere he’s gone to, the next 12 to 16 months he’s improved the teams that he’s gone to, and we know he goes alright at a World Cup,” Te Nana said on The Breakdown.
“I’m scared because these Aussies have already shown us that when they get it right (they can be hard to beat).
“In Melbourne, they should have tipped us up, let’s be honest.
“I’ll be interested because Eddie is old school, and it’ll be interesting to see how these newer players in Australia adapt or react to Eddie’s ways.”
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Legendary All Black Sir John Kirwan did interrupt Te Nana, as he questioned whether the Wallabies would have “the cattle” to make the most of Jones’ appointment.
But as Jones as done in the past, and has been widely speculated upon his return to Australian shores, the coach may call upon some talented athletes from another code.
When the Wallabies charged into a World Cup final on home soil 20 years ago, they had some brilliant athletes among their ranks.
Former rugby league stars Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor and Mat Rogers all donned Wallaby gold throughout that tournament.
Former Blues coach ‘JK’ expects Jones to “find a couple of league players” during his time in charge.
“Eddie and I go way back, he will not leave one stone unturned and he will have that team fizzing,” Kirwan said.
“He doesn’t need any injuries, and he’ll probably find a couple of league players or a couple of passports around the place, and he’ll try and make the strongest team possible.”
But ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup in France, players will have to prove themselves at Super Rugby level.
Following a scintillating opening round, which saw the Brumbies and Western Force claim important wins, the competition heads to Melbourne.
Super Round will see all 12 teams take the field at Melbourne’s AAMI Park across three nights.
expect an early win and then years with the usual pattern. Eddie won't win the Bledisloe back.
Eddie will get the Wallabies to a good baseline, along the lines of what Paul O'Connell called "being the best at things that require no talent". That's about picking a solid squad of players with a good attitude and a willingness to work hard for each other, then lots of training on conditioning, core skills, set pieces, defensive/attacking structures, etc. If he does that stuff well then the Wallabies will be a hard team to beat, but not necessarily a consistent winner.
Getting them to the next level, the point where they are a great bet to beat anyone, is the big challenge for Eddie. It will require clever game plans, attacking innovations, and some magic from some individual players. Also some luck, with injuries, refereeing decisions, bounce of the ball etc.
We don't know the detail of how he was planning to do this with England, but we do know that he spent a lot of time experimenting. And we know that Australia, not England, will be the beneficiaries of those learnings. He played against all of the major teams, and learned about their strengths and weaknesses. He tried some interesting attacking variations, including forward pod structures and how to use multiple playmakers at 10,12 and 15. He also learned how an aggressive defense (eg 2019 RWC final) can dismantle an attack that was good enough to beat NZ convincingly.
With all of that knowledge, can he pull off RWC magic in the pattern of Japan/SA in 2015? I would say that, although it is a big ask for them to do it 7 times in a row against increasingly tough competition, the Wallabies are certain to pull off some surprises.
But as relates to Bledisloe, I think Eddie is going to keep some of his powder dry. He would of course take the win, but not at the expense of reducing his RWC chances.
Of course England and Wales are on a similar curve, with new coaches racing to ready the teams. SA, Ireland and France are settled and have coaching continuity. NZ, Argentina and Scotland are somewhere in between. It is going to be a fascinating RWC tournament.
I'd be scared if he was taking over a complete team that just need new drive and impetus from a new, super intense, coach.
But in saying that the Wallabies can still win the Bledisloe in 2023. They nearly won game one last year. If they did I'm sure they would've played much better in game two.
Also I don't underestimate Foster's ability to reach new firsts e.g. first Bledisloe series loss since 2002.