The second coming of Eddie Jones began with high hopes, and ended with Australian rugby in its deepest ever hole. How did it go so wrong?
In the last week of the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup campaign, players and coaches were living in a state of purgatory; neither in the World Cup finals nor out of them., the Wallabies had effectively also lost their chance to play in knockout stages for the first time in World Cup history.
“It said, ‘I am proud to have worked with you. Contrary to media I haven’t signed anything and am going to spend the next month deciding my next move’,” the Wallaby player said. Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan was fuming about the Wallabies’ results on the spring tour, and in particular a loss to Italy on November 13. As RA’s representative in Florence, defeat was difficult viewing for McLennan at Stadio Artemio Franchi.The Wallabies were made to play five Tests in a row on that tour, an increase on the usual four.
“I would rather we have somebody who’s really tough and we win World Cups than we have a Kumbaya session, everyone holds hands and we fail,” McLennan said.McLennan rejects the argument that hiring Jones was a captain’s pick. “We went in with good faith ... we at Rugby Australia felt that we needed to make a change and it wasn’t just me, it went through the rugby committee and the board,” McLennan said this week at Sydney Airport.“Nothing was going to stop Hamish. He went after Eddie.
The next six months were a honeymoon period. RA basked in the hyper-luminous glow of Jones, whose profile and personality immediately saw rugby back on the TV news and back pages of newspapers after spending too long in the wilderness. Apart from forwards coach Dan McKellar, Jones didn’t want to carry forward any of Rennie’s crew. Experienced forwards coach Laurie Fisher was let go. McKellar did not accept an offer to stay and instead took the Leicester Tigers head coach job after getting a picture of how inexperienced Jones’ coaching staff would be.
The opacity of Jones’ long-term plans also became an issue in May. In Australian rugby circles, speculation that Jones would not see out his full, five-year contract had been bubbling since he landed in Australia in late January. But most expected the coach would at least stay until after the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025.podcast on May 31 that he only intended to stay for one year with the Wallabies. “I’m only coaching ’til this World Cup,” Jones said.
After the Wallabies travelled to South Africa, documentary crews began filming the team’s every move, with Jones wearing a microphone at training and in team meetings. Elsewhere, optimism about the Wallabies’ World Cup chances wasn’t in great supply. On July 20 – the night the Matildas began their soon-to-be famous World Cup campaign against Ireland at Homebush – RA sponsor RM Williams hosted an intimate dinner in the exclusive Clock Tower at Shell House in Sydney for rugby supporters, media executives and corporate supporters.
But by 7pm, unsuccessful candidates had still not been told about their fate, and there was a flight to Darwin early the next day for a camp. Jones pushed the button on a young squad for the World Cup and conceded he felt that senior players from the Rennie era had maxed out their potential. It was the youngest, most inexperienced Wallabies squad ever sent to a Rugby World Cup.
Jones, who hadn’t held in-person press conference since naming his World Cup squad, stood in front of members of the fourth estate at a media conference at Sydney Airport. Like the rest of the touring group, Jones had a brand new Akubra hat on his head. About an hour after the press conference, Jones texted a reporter who had asked questions in the scrum. “Don’t ever contact me again,” Jones wrote. Asked why, Jones blocked the journalist’s number.
Jones’ inexperienced squad was only one part of the Wallabies’ problems heading into the Rugby World Cup. Along with Jones’ links to Japan – which was now being reported by other world media outlets – the Wallabies’ disastrous campaign saw the heat intensify on Jones.
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