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Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has compared Quade Cooper to All Blacks great Dan Carter and given a telling assessment of Will Skelton’s World Cup selection hopes.
Jones, speaking to media ahead of coaching the Barbarians team featuring Cooper and Samu Kerevi, also said he was “almost a volunteer” considering he could have taken on more lucrative jobs before opting to return to Australia.
In a typically expansive mood, he told English media that he felt he needed to come back to Australia for the game’s sake.
“When the opportunity came I jumped at it because rugby is in a fairly dark place and needs a bit of energy, needs a bit of direction and I can only do my bit coaching the national team but obviously I can do a job selling the game there, which I have taken on, so I am enjoying it,” Jones said.
“We bought a rugby league player (Joseph Suaalii) to get back in the shop window, that is 100 per cent true and now people are talking about rugby again. Then the other bits are just a bit of fun.”
Jones, who was the highest paid coach in the world before he was let go by England, suggested he was taking a significant loss coming back to Australia.
“Post-England I always knew there were possibilities. There was a country that was going to pay me as much as I’m getting — look, I’m almost a volunteer in Australia — that was going to pay me as much not to coach. So, there was always going to be a job there,” Jones said.
Jones, who said he felt no emotion about England despite having coached them, is clearly excited about working with Cooper again and seeing him in partnership with Kerevi.
“They haven’t played a lot together so it’s a really good opportunity for those two to work together. It’s exciting, the back line we could have. Power and pace, it’s frightening,” Jones said.
“I look at (Cooper) like Dan Carter. He is a different sort of player but just from the maturity point of view.
“I last coached Quade when he was a young swashbuckling, loose-as-you-can-be No 10 out of high school. Now he is a mature, serious, looks-after-his-body-like-a-temple rugby player with a good command of how he wants to play the game.”
Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
He was also asked about the impact of Will Skelton, who starred as La Rochelle won the Champions Cup final last weekend.
“I have seen parts of the (final) but he was enormous,” Jones said. “You look at the World Cup, probably up to the quarter-finals they are going to be pretty quick games, flat pitches, sun shining but you know once you get to [the] Stade de France, heavy atmosphere, heavy pitch and it becomes a set-piece contest and having a right-hand side lock like him is a big advantage.”
Jones also spoke about the challenge of raising the Wallabies to the point they think they can win the World Cup despite slipping to 7th in the world rankings, and the style he wants to see.
“It is about raising the expectation of the players because their expectation has been too low and we need to raise it,” Jones said.
“We need to work a bit harder and need to create a style of rugby that is quintessentially Australian. We have been copying other teams and that is not the Australian way.”
He said that was a style that is “more about intent. Australians, in whichever sport they play, are much better when they are aggressive, when they are positive, when they are in the face of the opposition, we are doing it our way and we are at the opposition with numbers at the line in attack and defence like mongrel dogs running around and that is where we are at our best.”
Jones meanwhile dismissed World XV coach Steve Hansen’s suggestion that Australia have an “easy ride”at the World Cup.
“I don’t buy into that. Having been to a fair few World Cups every quarter-final is tough every semi-final is tough and every final is tough. So I don’t understand that rationale,” said Jones.
Jones is likely to receive a spicy reception at Twinckenham this week.
“I never worry about things I can’t control. I don’t control [the sort of reception I’ll get], so it’s no use even thinking about it,”he said.
“I had a great seven years here. Loved my time here and I’m looking forward to it. The sun is shining. It will be unbelievable. I am going to enjoy every moment of it.”
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.