Eddie Jones says his successor as England coach was right to claim the team is “not good at anything” and backed Steve Borthwick to “fix it.”
England lost their opening Six Nations match to Scotland and Borthwick appeared to put at least part of the blame on Jones, who was sacked ahead of the tournament before returning to the Wallabies job.
Borthwick said the team he inherited from Jones was “not good at anything” and Jones had a surprising response on his latest podcast released Friday.
“Well, he’s probably right,” Jones told his co-host David Pembroke.
“And that was part of the problem. We were trying to morph a team that’s been a very good set piece, a very good kicking team. I think the way the game is played at the moment that’ll win you games but it’s probably not good enough to be a World Cup champion.
“Expanding the attack then sometimes takes away from your strengths. And they’re going through that difficult period now where they’re trying to get the balance right in the game.
“But Steve will fix it. There’s no doubt he’ll fix it, and keep blaming me, that’s alright. I’ve got a pretty strong back and pretty strong shoulders to absorb that.”
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham joins Christy Doran ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific kick-off. Listen below
Wallabies fixtures confirmed
The Wallabies have confirmed their Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup fixtures, which lead up to the Rugby World Cup in September.
In a shortened version of TRC, the Wallabies will open against South Africa at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on July 8.
They return to Australia to take on Argentina at CommBank Stadium in Sydney just seven days later in what will be their first hit out on home soil for the year, on July 15.
The schedule then sees the Bledisloe Cup fixtures played back-to-back with the Wallabies hosting the All Blacks at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday July 29. Game two is at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on August 5.
2023 Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup Fixtures
Wallabies v South Africa, Time TBC, Saturday 8 July at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
Wallabies v Argentina, 7:45pm AEST, Saturday 15 July at CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Wallabies v New Zealand, 7:45pm AEST, Saturday 29 July at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Wallabies v New Zealand, 2:35pm NZST/12:35pm AEST Saturday 5 August at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Gatland swings axe
Warren Gatland has reacted to Wales’ opening-round loss in the Six Nations by dropping three long-time stars of the team for the match against Scotland.
Lock Alun Wyn Jones and flanker Justin Tipuric weren’t even picked in the reserves for Saturday’s clash, while No. 8 Taulupe Faletau dropped to the bench as the New Zealander Gatland made the first big calls in his second spell as coach on Thursday in the wake of a 34-10 loss to Ireland in Cardiff.
There are six changes in total, one of them being positional, to a team that appears to be looking to the future, with the Rugby World Cup in seven months.
All of them come in the forwards, with props Dillon Lewis and Wyn Jones replacing the injured Tomas Francis and Gareth Thomas, the 20-year-old Dafydd Jenkins coming in for the 37-year-old Alun Wyn Jones, and flankers Tommy Reffell and Christ Tshiunza taking the places of Faletau and Tipuric.
Jac Morgan switched from blindside flanker to No. 8.
Warren Gatland. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Gatland said the call-ups for Jenkins and Tshiunza — a 21-year-old Congo-born back-rower — were “looking a bit to the future” and the selection of Morgan at No. 8 was Wales “looking at options if Faletau picks up an injury.”
Asked if his selection signalled a changing of the guard, Gatland said: “I don’t think so.
“We need to think about what’s important in this tournament. We still want to do well and Saturday is important. But we need to think long-term in the next seven or eight months.
“We’ve got a huge disparity between the young players and the caps they have.”
Gatland said Alun Wyn Jones and Tipuric, who have 156 and 90 Wales caps respectively, could still have a future at Test level.
“Of course. They’ve been brilliant,” he said. “We know what they can do. But these other players, we don’t know how they can handle it.
“That’s our thinking — getting that balance and giving those group of players a chance without too many changes.”
Scotland have made just one change from their 29-23 win over England at Twickenham, with prop Zander Fagerson returning in place of WP Nel, who drops into the reserves.
Gatland said, “We are playing a team who is probably at its strongest for a number of years.”
Scotland: Stuart Hogg, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ben White; Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie, Jamie Ritchie (captain), Grant Gilchrist, Richie Gray, Zander Ferguson, George Turner, Pierre Schoeman.
Reserves: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, WP Nel, Jonny Gray, Jack Dempsey, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn, Chris Harris.
Wales: Liam Williams, Josh Adams, George North, Joe Hawkins, Rio Dyer, Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Christ Tshiunza, Adam Beard, Dafydd Jenkins, Dillon Lewis, Ken Owens (captain), Wyn Jones.
Reserves: Scott Baldwin, Rhys Carre, Leon Brown, Rhys Davies, Taulupe Faletau, Rhys Webb, Rhys Patchell, Alex Cuthbert.
Ireland’s Aussie duo to tackle France
Ireland and France have kept changes to a minimum for a Six Nations clash between the world’s top teams in Dublin, with the home side’s two influential Australians Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham both selected again.
The Canberra pair of winger Hansen and prop Bealham, who ply their trade together at provincial side Connacht now and qualify for their adopted nation through their Irish family ties, both impressed in the opening win over Wales and retain their places for Saturday’s blockbuster.
There’s only one change by the Irish, who have lost influential hooker Dan Sheehan to a hamstring injury and selected Rob Herring as the deputy.
Sheehan has been almost ever-present since coming off the bench to replace the injured Ronan Kelleher in last year’s 30-24 loss to France in Paris, so it’s a big blow.
Halfback Conor Murray had been a potential injury doubt following the 34-10 win over Wales last weekend but he’s been passed fit to continue his partnership with No.10 Johnny Sexton.
Mack Hansen. (Photo By Seb Daly/Sportsfile via Getty Image
France have kept faith with the same starting XV which struggled to subdue Italy 29-24, with the only changes coming in the reserves.
Flanker Francois Cros and halfback Baptiste Couilloud return and the less-experienced Thomas Lavault and Nolann Le Garrec, who made his debut against Italy, dropped out.
“There are no surprises in this starting XV. Nor are there any among the finishers,” coach Fabien Galthie said on Thursday.
“We have been working with this starting XV for three weeks. We have little time, so it is important to create a coherent strategic and tactical structure.”
Last Sunday, France started as the heavy favourites in Rome and were 19-6 ahead in the first half.
But Italy fought back strongly to lead 24-22 in the last quarter. Matthieu Jalibert finished his forwards’ work to score the match-winning try minutes later but France finished their opening match defending their own try line.
The win was France’s 14th in a row since they last lost a match two years ago – to Ireland in Dublin.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe, Johnny Sexton (captain), Conor Murray; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Finlay Bealham, Rob Herring, Andrew Porter.
Reserves: Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Bundee Aki.
France: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Ethan Dumortier, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (captain); Grégory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon, Anthony Jelonch, Paul Willemse, Thibaud Flament, Uini Atonio, Julien Marchand, Cyril Baille.
Reserves: Gaetan Barlot, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Romain Taofifenua, Francois Cros, Sekou Macalou, Baptiste Couilloud, Matthieu Jalibert.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Qualify, if you can’t see the disingenuous nature of this latest mea culpa, then you haven’t had the same misfortune I have of listening to many of his pressers of recent years. He’s a master at it. As for results, no one can take away his unbeaten run when he took over. But it was with someone else’s squad. He had four years of complete and absolute control to build his own during that time. He had an amazing pool of U20 players with England appearing in 6 of the last 7 finals, winning 3 of them. Think about that for a minute. He also had the richest world union at his beck and call. And what did he do with all those riches? Delivered a final 3 years of results comparable to that of a certain Martin Johnson, who took on England head coach duties for that exact same three year period, without having even head coached a league team. And without a 4 year run up at it. And without the same talent pool coming through the age groups. Please don’t use words like ‘results’ and ‘progress’. England demonstrably went backwards. And please don’t refer to shortsightedness – three years on top of four years preparation is a very, very generous run at it. If there was an ounce of genuine mea culpa to Jones, he would have resigned over a year ago.
Intotouch
Roar Rookie
The guardian newspaper published some damning stats today showing exactly where the Borthwick comment came from. I don’t know if I’m allowed to post a link so I’ll list the main facts instead. The data is from analysing the top 11 sides in 2022. Tries per 80 minutes, England: 10th out of 11. Attacking ruck speed: 10th Tackle success %: 10th Turnovers won: 2nd Scrums won: 11th Line out steals: 9th
Qualify
Guest
Neil. It's not like he left Engalnd rugby kicking and screaming. He agrees he didn't get it right and that Borthwick is the man to fix it. What do you want him to say? He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. And so what if he gets riled up sometimes, he gets results. Yes, results. The fact that he got England to a final after a pool exit on home soil, is nothing short of a miracle. On top of that, he's got more cups and glory than most. To judge him on his last three years at England (ehich included wins over the Wallabies, NZ and SA, btw) is short sighted. Has he messed up? Of course, but who hasn't. Or would you prefer a guy like Rennie who doesn't progress, but hey, at least he's humble? Good luck. Rassie gets riled up, makes video's, blames refs, rants more than Cheika, but he gets a pass because he won the world cup. Guy was smart enough to leave the job after two years.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
He's absolutely making excuses. He's blaming 3 (three!) years of horrible performances, including the two worst ever 6N campaigns, on a plan he was bringing together miraculously in time to win the RWC. If only everyone else had been smart enough to see through the madness and understand the genius that was about to unfold after 3 (three!) years of brilliant scheming, preceded by a 4 (four!) year run up at it. Glaciers have turned quicker. And the stuff about 'broad shoulders'. Give me a break. He belittles any journalist impertinent enough to actually ask him a pertinent question, and literally banishes any player who does the same. His skin is gossamer thin. But, I expect him to give Australian rugby a boost, shake up, and higher profile. I sincerely hope he's good for Australian rugby. But you're very welcome to him.
Qualify
Guest
Oh, please. The man is owning up. Had he said anything else you would've probably blamed him for making excuses. Looking forward to his tenure. Excitement for rugby is back!
Dean
Roar Rookie
Perhaps some research is warranted. Many an Aussie on an Aussie passport with no Granma visa have served in HM British Forces. Maybe, they are still Aussies?
Dean
Roar Rookie
Personally, I enjoy reading and learning about them. Additionally, perhaps we can learn something about what we missed. Let’s not ignore the fact that 2 passed over Australian Rugby players, are now starting for the World’s number 1 team. There is something there. It isn’t them, it’s us!
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
I went to one of the Fairfax newspaper sites and nine out of 15 articles (60%) were about Eddie Jones. It's like that other lot of of once-were-Englanders: Harold and Meghan. Can I say I've had more than enough already.
adastra32
Roar Rookie
Borthwick described what guides his coaching philosophy: the match data. Everything else is froth. Smart of Eddie to play a straight bat to the media spin.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Agreed .. and its not just an Aussie thing .. CJ Stander ( IRL) , Duane v\d Merwe (SCO) , Willemse ( FRA) , none were particularly successful in South Africa and even struggled for selection to local franchises . They went abroad to try their luck and came good in a different environment , good for them ..No reason for angst over it .
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
Ha ha, what does Eddie care what the Englishman thinks. He's in his early 60's and back in the Bosom of the Wallabies. For sure blame him, he cares not...
Olly
Roar Rookie
Yes your team is rubbish make sure the players know it.....Eddie mind games at work here if I have ever seen it
RayinSydney
Roar Rookie
Eh?…eaither you didn’t read the article, or are confused by ‘Rugby Sydney’s’ decision to have the game played in Melbourne…as stated in the article..which is above.
scrum
Roar Rookie
Looking forward to the Irish- French clash. Ireland were sublime in the first 40 mins last week. My thoughts at this stage is that along with SA these teams are favourites for RWC. Having said that this looms as the most competitive World Cup ever with Aussie advantaged by being on the easy side of the draw.
mattocks15
Roar Rookie
If your talking about the MCG, we've played the AB's there 3 times. Australia have one two of them. I was at the game in 2007. And I'll be at the game this year.
Mexicano
Guest
So the Sydney-centric brains trust have decided to put the test against the ABs at the same place where we consistently lose every time. Sydney. Write that test off already. Well done Rugby Sydney, er sorry, Rugby Australia.
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
I also agree but it's a bit the same as how they still refer to players like Korobete as the Wallabies Fijian winger.Everyone should just get over it and refer to them by where they are playing now.Who knows,with the way eligibility rules are now,in the future we could be referring to the Irish/Australian winger Hansen playing for the Wallabies(or someone else)!
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Borthwick didn’t mention Jones but he was honest about England . He was appointed to fix things and to do that he must do an appreciation of the situation . There’s not much wrong . Eddie has exactly the same job ahead of him , he should concentrate on that and forget the commentary on others .
Rubbish Surf 69
Roar Rookie
I kinda agree. I’m certainly not losing any sleep over it, but it annoys me that these articles keep citing players as “Aussies” when they play for another nation. It’s different if they are playing for a provincial team, but if they have decided to play for another nation doesn’t that mean they are representing that nation now and not Australia?
Cam
Roar Rookie
Lol, Eddie taking the high road, who'd have thought. I'm expecting to see the old Eddie Jones off the back of a couple of Wallaby losses!