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Jones on World Cup 2027 'handshake' deal, Wallabies 'going in the right direction'

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13th November, 2021
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England’s Eddie Jones, looking down on the Wallabies from the mountain of eight straight wins over the team he used to coach, says the Australians are heading in the right direction with a lot to look forward to.

Jones, speaking in his post-match press conference following his team’s 32-15 win at Twickenham, suggested Australia was destined to host the 2027 World Cup ahead of the United States. Key Australians have been in London lobbying for the return of the tournament down under.

“I think they’re going in the right direction,” said Jones of the Wallabies.

“It’s important for world rugby that we have a strong Wallabies.

“Dave Rennie has done a good job, he’s brought a lot of players through. It’s a difficult time for them at the moment they’ve been in a bubble for a long time and they’ve got to show fight which they did today.

Angus Bell of Australia reacts as he is shown a yellow card by Referee, Jaco Peyper during the Autumn Nations Series match between England and Australia at Twickenham Stadium on November 13, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Angus Bell receives a yellow card (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“They hung in there and we were just a little strong for them in the last 20.

“If you look at what’s ahead of Australian rugby, they’ve got a World Cup in 2023, the Lions in 2025 and I think they’ve been promised, or there’s probably a handshake there somewhere along the line that they’ll get the World Cup in 2027 so they’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

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Australia won five matches straight before back to back losses against Scotland and England, but Rennie has been rocked by player injuries and withdrawals.

His skipper, Michael Hooper, came off in the 55th minute with a foot injury on Sunday and is no certainty to take his place against Wales next weekend.

“The Australian sporting enviromemt needs a strong Wallabies as the world rugby environment needs it,” said Jones.

“They should be proud of their efforts today given the circumstances they’ve been in. I was talking to one of staff I know quite well and he hasn’t seen his family for four months because of the COVID situation. That’s tough for those guys. We should be very grateful that they’ve come up here and done this tour to keep world rugby going.”

While Australia didn’t have the best preparation the same could be said for England, disrupted by two COVID positives.

“We had to battle really hard and I was really pleased with the attitude of the players,” Jones said.

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“We predicted it was going to be more a free flowing game like Australia like to play but it turned out to be a heavy penalty game, a lot of set piece contest, a lot of kicking and I was pleased with the way we adapted outr game and fought through it.

“I was also pleased with the way our finishers finished the game.”

England became the first side this year to keep the Wallabies tryless and their next assignment is to face South Africa, who beat them in the 2019 World Cup final.

Jones was asked if he saw the clash as a “chance for revenge”.

“That’s a nice media line,” Jones replied. “But they’re a different team now, wqe’re a different team, they’re the World Cup champions and we’re not.

“It’s going to be an important Test between two very good teams to finish off the autumn. We’re loooking it as a final. We’re going to have to play a little differently against them to beat them.”

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