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Eddie Jones says he hopes to have his coaching structure firmed up over the next couple of weeks and hinted that his team would likely be different to the one next year given the “smash and grab” nature of preparing for a World Cup inside the space of 12 months.
Jones also believes Australian rugby could “learn a lot” from the way Ireland “develops talent” and says Rugby Australia has an opportunity over the next “three to four years” to establish its own approach to fostering talent.
In an entertaining and wide-ranging interview with the ABC, Jones, who was axed by the Rugby Football Union in December before being pounced on by Rugby Australia to lead the Wallabies into the World Cup, also reflected on his mistakes as England coach.
The experienced coach, who has been to three World Cup finals, said he got his coaching team wrong, slowing his side’s progress.
“The big thing for me was I don’t think I got the selection of my staff right,” he said.
“I tended to not pick the right person at the right time and, because of that, I tended to give them more time, and then the program got slightly unbalanced and we were going into too much specialist areas and not enough in the collective area.
“I think that slowed down the development of the team because we were always going through a difficult period because we had a good team and we had to rebuild the team, and rebuilding the team at the top level is always a difficult task.”
Eddie Jones (R) says he agreed with his successor Steve Borthwick’s comments that England weren’t good at anything in 2022. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
Earlier this month Jones came under fire from his former right-hand man and successor at England, Steve Borthwick, who said he inherited an England side that weren’t “good at anything”.
Jones agreed, but the Australian coach said his former side were going back to go forward because changes were essential ahead of France for them to go one place better than the 2019 World Cup.
“Well, (he’s) right. That was the task,” Jones said of Borthwick’s comments.
“We clearly had a strong team in 2019 and 2020, but we needed to change the team because we were a very strong set-piece kicking team and to win the World Cup in France you need to be able to attack a bit more.
“The team’s been going through that metamorphous of trying to change its colour and sometimes when you do that, and it’s been particularly evident with England where you’re changing the DNA of the team but you need to do, because sometimes you do need to change the DNA of the team to be consistently successful, you take away the strengths of the team and they’re not good enough at being a good attacking team, so he’s 100 per cent right.
“He’s going to be an excellent coach and I don’t feel any disgruntlement at all to his comments.”
Eddie Jones said he needed to change England’s game-plan and team for the 2019 World Cup runners-up to win the 2023 World Cup. Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
Jones met up with the incumbent coaching team at the start of the month but has yet to confirm who will go with him to France.
While Jones wants former Brumbies coach Dan McKellar on his ticket, the Wallabies forwards coach, as revealed by The Roar, is on the shortlist to take over Borthwick’s former side Leicester Tigers.
Whether McKellar is given the job remains to be seen, but his decision could well change how Jones assembles his team.
Nonetheless, Jones said he hoped to have his coaching team assembled by the end of the month.
“Next couple of weeks we should be pretty right,” Jones told the ABC.
“We’re working day and night to get that right at the moment.”
Jones said the “smash and grab” nature of the Wallabies’ World Cup year, which has occurred after Dave Rennie was shown the door in January to facilitate the former Randwick hooker’s return, meant he was approaching his appointments with a short-term strategy.
“Well particularly for this one because it’s a smash and grab, we’ve got to get into the jewellery shop quickly, steal the cup and get out,” he said.
“We need people who can work together quickly, who have got adaptable characteristics, can be well planned and can be quite audacious, so they’re the things that I’m looking for.
“I’ve been studying the greatest thieves in the world and they all have those characteristics, so we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got that on staff.”
Eddie Jones has revealed what he is looking for in his 2023 Wallabies captain. Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Jones has yet to reveal anything about who he might choose to lead the Wallabies in 2023.
Michael Hooper was appointed captain by three Wallabies coaches, but his decision to step away from the game during last year’s Rugby Championship has left the job wide open.
James Slipper led the Wallabies in Hooper’s absence, while Alaalatoa also captained the side once.
Jones said he wanted his leader to instil confidence in others and get the best out of others too.
“Well, the first thing they’ve got to be able to do is lead themselves,” he said.
“I think whenever you get into a difficult situation, the playing group looks at the head coach and the playing group looks at the captain. If you’ve had a bad result, they look to see whether that person walks in with a confidence in their step and a glint in their eyes and they know what’s coming next. They’ve got to be able to influence other players to bring the best out of themselves and they’ve got to be able to be a great role model themself.”
Like the captaincy, who wears the No.10 jersey remains one of the biggest talking points in Australian rugby.
In the absence of Quade Cooper, who played just one Test in 2022, Rennie used a handful of playmakers last year but no one grabbed the role with both hands.
Interestingly Jones spoke to former cross-code playmaker Berrick Barnes, who made his Test debut during the 2007 World Cup and was set to join the Wallabies at stages during 2023 under Rennie, on Friday and the duo spoke about the fact Dan Carter starred during his last campaign for the All Blacks.
“I think it’s important to have experience, but I also think it’s important to develop talent,” Jones said.
“There’s some young guys coming through. There’s Donaldson and Edmed in NSW, there’s Lolesio at the Brumbies, and we’ve got to make sure that we bring those young guys through.
“I was talking to Berrick Barnes yesterday, who was a pretty talented No.10, and we were talking about the fact that Dan Carter was at his best at 35 [33].”
David Nucifora has “done a fantastic job” in running Ireland’s high-performance system, but Eddie Jones says Australia simply can’t “copycat” other models. Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Meanwhile, Jones was asked about another Australian succeeding overseas, David Nucifoa, and while he said job wasn’t about bringing home a performance director, he added that Rugby Australia could learn a thing or two about how Ireland had risen to the top of the World Rugby standings.
“I’m not in charge of putting the system together, my job is to make sure the top of the system operates and to help the other parts of the system,” he said.
“But I think definitely the way Ireland develops talent is absolutely fantastic and Australia could learn a lot from that, and David Nucifora has done a fantastic job.
Asked on whether RA needed to restructure and follow the lead of Ireland, who operate under a centralised system, Jones said the governing body couldn’t simply copy anyone else.
“Well they’ve got to look at that, they’ve got to definitely look at that, but I think you can never copycat, you can never copy what Ireland have done and put it into Australia. You can’t copy what New Zealand have done and put it into Australia, you’ve got to come up with your own way of doing that. But definitely, there’s got to be a more systematic approach to developing talent.”
He added: “As professional rugby matures, what you need to be successful around the world changes and I think countries have made changes that are right for them, and I think Australia’s opportunity to do that will be coming in the next three or four years and it’s important that they don’t miss that opportunity.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.