Eddie Jones’ time for scribbling names on a notepad came to an end on Sunday when he put his first Wallabies squad of his new era on the public record.

Jones was the sole selector of the squad that was named in three parts – 33 players who will train at the camp, three long term injured players who will be involved, and seven overseas based players who will joining via Zoom, as long as their club commitments allow.

Jones said he took advice from “some of the most learned people in Australian rugby” to help him decide the make up of the squad, adding “it’s not a one man dictatorship.”

There were plenty of surprises on both sides of the ledger, with several Dave Rennie regulars – including Tate McDermott, Noah Lolesio and Jake Gordon all left out, while there were first call ups for six, including Waratahs ‘teen sensation Max Jorgensen.

Jones also defended his selection of Reds winger Suliasi Vunivalu, with many fans believing Brumbies’ Corey Toole and Andy Muirhead had been more effective in the wing position this season.

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Jones conducted a 30 minute media conference after announcing the squad, and refused to discuss players he had left out. While his media conference was more colourful than most of those from his predecessor Dave Rennie, Rennie was always open to discussing the overlooked players.

Jones said he hadn’t spoken to everyone who was closer to selection without being named.

“I’ve spoken to maybe 15 players this morning,”Jones said. “I’ve at least given an indication of what we feel they need to do over the next period of time to bang on the door. It’s their responsibility to bang on the door.”

Asked if he was happy with the responses, Jones countered: “Well, players always tell you what you want to hear. It’s not what I hear. It’s what I see. The evidence is always performance.

“And just have a look at our Super Rugby sides, right? We’re not traveling that well in the table.

“I just had a look before, four of the bottom five spots are filled by our players.

“If our players perform at a high level, those performances will improve. And so there’s an easy message there, perform at a high level, and you’ll get selected, if you don’t perform at a high level you won’t get selected.”

Jones said everyone who was selected is in the World Cup plans.

“Australia’s got a talented group of players but a small group of players. There’s 33 coming to camp, there’s probably five or six overseas that come into contention, there’s another five or six players who can knock on the door.

“So they’re all in contention. The players who aren’t selected have numerous opportunities over the next six or seven weeks in Super Rugby to press their claims. So these 33 guys have the first opportunity to impress.”

Here’s everything Jones had to say

On picking Suli Vunivalu

Michael Atkinson, a rugby reporter with Nine in Brisbane, said he had observed Vunivalu appeared to be struggling mentally in games and during training for the Reds.

“Contradiction is a big part of selection,”said Jones. “You’re always trying to find players you feel can be world class. That’s the ultimate task – to find players who can be world class.

“And I’ve seen Vulivalu play for Melbourne Storm. I’ve seen him play in NRL. I’ve seen bits and pieces of his play for Australia A, and bits and pieces of what he’s done for Queensland. There’s a lot of gaps in his game at the moment. But our job as coaches is to help him fill the gaps.

“So if you’ve got a cattle prod at training get it out, it might help him!”

Suliasi Vunivalu poses for a photo before an Australian Wallabies training session on June 21, 2022 in Sunshine Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

On the selection of Max Jorgensen

“He’s got pace, mate,”Jones said when asked what he liked about the 18-year-old. “A big thing about Test rugby is having pace, particularly in the back three. He’s got pace. He’s got a great instinctiveness about him.

“He’s got courage. He’s got all the attributes of being a very good Test player and he’s made a good start. And his challenge now is to keep improving.”

Asked if he felt Jorgensen’s age might prevent him breaking into the Test team, Jones said: “I’ll borrow an expression from Bob Dwyer – I don’t think it’s about age, it’s about whether they’re good enough.

“And whether they’re good enough is whether they’re tough enough, whether they’re robust enough to handle it. And what I’ve seen so far is the answer to that, Max is. Yes.

“We’ve got an opportunity to test drive him around the circuit at Sanctuary Cove and see if he’s got the quality for Test rugby. Certainly at the moment, the answer to that is yes.”

On the selection of Carter Gordon

The Rebels No.10 has seen his stocks rise dramatically this season. Noah Lolesio is a big absentee, James O’Çonnor too, while Tom Lynagh might have been considered but for a concussion that Jones says affects his ability to train at the camp. Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley will be at the camp only via the internet, giving Ben Donaldson and Gordon a chance to impress in person in a key position.

“There’s going to be hot competition and all the players who get to come to the first camp, they get to put their tyres on, they get to pump it up, they get to see how fast they can go. And if he wins the time trial then he goes to the next stage, if he can’t get out of the blocks then he might stay in the blocks,” Jones said of Gordon’s chances of converting his call up into Test footy.

“I love his competitiveness. He’s got that feel of the game of when to flatten up and when to be a little bit deeper, which is a bit of a lost art.

“He’s instinctively got that, he’s courageous; I really enjoyed his game yesterday, his side got absolutely pumped in the first half (the Rebels lost to Fijian Drua). At one stage you thought you were going to see the Rebels floating out on the Pacific Ocean they were getting that pumped.

 (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“But he hung in there, he missed a couple of tackles, hung in there, kept doing the simple things well and put himself on show. They’re the sort of players we like to see. They’re never beaten, he never thought his side was beaten, he just kept going and going.

“Ultimately that’s the side we want to produce for Australia, that’s the side people want to see, that they’re always fighting, always in the fight, always never get beat, and to do that we need players who want to do that and he’s certainly got loads of that at the moment.”

On the selection of Josh Flook

“Feel for the game” was an attribute Jones also praised the Reds’ centre for.

“I first saw him up at Narrabri and I was impressed by his feel for the game,”said Jones.

“One of the things I learned from Bob Dwyer is always try to pick players that have got the things you can’t coach. And one of the things you can’t coach is the feel of the game.

“Looking at the try he scored last weekend when he came from the opposite side of the scrum took an inside pass from O’Connor.  That ability to read the game,  that instinctiveness about the game. He seems like he’s got a good head on him. Good character, good, hard working player. So there’s a lot of things I like about him.”

On a return to the national team for Jordan Uelese

The Rebels forward has played 15 Tests including the 2019 World Cup.

“Jordan Uelese is big and ugly,” said Jones. “He looks a bit like Malcolm Marx – big, tall, strong, gets hard over the ball, carries, a bit of work to do on his throwing.

“Last time he was in the Wallabies he got into a bit of strife which is one of the reasons he hasn’t featured for a while.

“So we’re going to give him the opportunity to show he’s grown up a bit. He’s certainly got all the attributes.”

On who will be his captain

Jones suggested he might move away from the model of one skipper, due to the changing nature of the game.

“I reckon we’ll need probably seven captains with HIA, so you can all write down your seven choices on a slip and you can send them through to me … but I think we’re going to need a number of captains in all seriousness,”said Jones.

“The way the game is at the moment, I think we’re going to need to have a number of captains.

“I’m just working out…what will best suit the team, firstly for the Rugby Championship and then obviously as an entrée into the World Cup.

“But we’ve got a number of good candidates, they did some really good work with the leadership group that was left by Dave, who did a good job with them, and we’ve been continuing on with that group and certainly their commitment to be a world-class leadership group is there.

“And then we’ll just work out who has the title of captain, and how many captains we have.”

On a first call up for Rory Arnold’s brother Richie, and why Rory has been left out

Richie Arnold has impressed in French rugby with Toulouse while Rory isn’t playing due to his Japanese club Hino Red Dolphins being suspended.

“He’s a massively tough player. Toulouse build their pack around Richie Arnold,” Jones said. “I went and met the coach of Toulouse and we had a chat about him and what he brings to their team and his development as a player. He’s a very young player by playing experience and training experience. So I feel like again, he’s one of those players, who’s got a lot of development and a lot of growth in him.”

Jones was more edgy on Rory, who has opted to stay in Japan and train while the club is banned.

“I think he’s working on the factory line at Hino isn’t he? I think he’s making those trucks, because he’s not playing rugby at the moment,” Jones said.

“To get selected you have to play rugby, you have to play rugby, we don’t pick blokes who make Hino trucks.”

On a first call up for Brad Wilkin and how he wants his No.7s to play

The Rebels flanker impressed on the Australia A tour of Japan late last year.

“Very strong, defensive player.  Reasonable over the ball. And again, he’s one of those players I feel like’s got a lot of growth in,” said Jones.

“He hasn’t  been through the golden golden pathway. He’s had to battle a fair bit. He’s a country lad from Wellington, New South Wales. And just again, he’s one of those ones I feel like we can get a bit more out of.”

He said he wants a No.7 who is “hard on the ball.

“A seven’s job, and it has been since the game first started to now, is on first phase when you’ve got the ball you’ve got to make sure you get that first ruck quick ruck. And then conversely on the opposition’s ball, that first ruck he’s got to make it difficult for the opposition to get quick ball.

“We’ve got a number of good players in that area in Australia, we’ve got Wilkin, obviously Hooper’s played 100-odd Tests and I’m really pleased how his game’s developing each game in Super Rugby, and Fraser McReight’s again a player of good promise from Queensland. So to have those three really good options there is very positive for us.”

On Blake Schoupp

The Brumbies prop from Wollongong is another that Jones sees a lot of promise in.

“He’s an unheralded player, he’s built pretty close to the ground; if he’s standing behind a picket fence you’re not going to see much of him. He’s built like a brick shithouse isn’t he?

“So he’s perfectly built to be a prop, he scrummages hard, he’s hard on the ball, and he’s one of those guys, he’s come up the hard way and I feel like with an opportunity we might get a bit more out of him.”

On the Giteau Law and where it’s heading

With seven overseas players invited to join camp via Zoom, Jones was asked if that pointed to changes in the Giteau law restrictions. He was evasive, and the sense remains that Jones will get the squad he wants at the World Cup.

“We won’t have to make that decision until we make the World Cup squad, but there are discussions going on about that,” Jones said.

“But certainly if you look at those players who are going to join by Zoom, they’re pretty talented players. But again, talent isn’t everything, they’ve got to be prepared to work hard and commit themselves to Australia, and then in some cases that might affect their contracts overseas.

“So there’s some work to be done in that area finding out who the right players are, what level of commitment they’ve got, how hard they’re prepared to work, but they’ve certainly got talent there. And the discussion with Rugby Australia will be ongoing, but again we don’t need to make a final decision until we make a final decision on a World Cup squad, which I imagine will be some time in mid-August.”