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It took Eddie Jones less than two games to go from “smash and grab” to grab and smash.
The Wallabies coach ripped off his headset and destroyed it as Saturday night’s match against Argentina lurched out of the Wallabies control and left the old-new coach with a 0-2 record in his comeback.
Two games against the All Blacks, then one against France, loom before the World Cup starts in September and Jones is left searching for a way to turn things around.
The loss a week earlier in South Africa was expected but this defeat has brought on a whole new level of dejection and frustration for Wallabies fans.
“There was probably no one more despondent than me. I probably ruined three radios in the coach’s box,” Jones said afterwards.
He also compared his team to a lemon of a car as he struggled to define why he remains hopeful that the season can be salvaged.
“Well, we kept fighting, mate, kept fighting. It was one of those games where it’s sitting on the table and one team’s going to grab it, and we thought we grabbed it and then they grabbed it back and we got beaten at the end,” Jones said.
“We’re a bit like a broken car. My first car was a Datsun 1200. You’d fix the handbrake and the next day the windscreen wipers would break, and we’re a bit like that moment.
“Last week our set-piece wasn’t good. This week our set-piece was good. Last week, we didn’t attack. This week we did attack, but our decision-making around the ball was poor. This is a bit of a process we’ve got to go through. As painful as it is and as hard as it is, and it seems like where we want to be, the team we are today is a long way from the team we want to be tomorrow, but you know we’ll keep working on it and we’ll get it right.”
The defeat saw the Wallabies go beneath Argentina to 8th on the world rankings.
Asked for his reaction on that, Jones replied: “What do you reckon, mate? Doing hand stands. No, obviously not happy. But in a lot of ways, in this period, this isn’t about rankings, it’s about getting ready for the World Cup.
“Ideally, we would have won every game we played. But that hasn’t happened and it mightn’t happen. But we’re getting the team ready for the World Cup.”
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
He was also asked if the assignment was proving harder than he expected.
“I’m certainly sleeping less. So, I don’t know whether it’s any harder mate. But it was always going to be difficult,” said Jones.
“If you’re coming off [a period] where you’ve been consistently unsuccessful for a period of time, which the results show that, then you’re not going to go and everything changes.
“We’re trying to change the team, and we’re also trying to change the way we play. I’m quite happy to accept that we’re not where we should be. But, I’m also quite happy to tell you that I think we’re on the right track and we’ll get there.”
So where are the green shoots, and where is the dead wood in Eddie’s realm?
Carter Gordon and Mark Nawaqanitawase were the two most eye-catching Wallabies on Saturday night, the former having to come on in the 18th minute to play out of position at No.12 after the loss of outside centre Len Ikitau to injury.
“I just liked the toughness in defence like your classic inside centre,”said former Wallaby Morgan Turinui on Stan Sport. “Carter was busy, didn’t shirk the task physically. He adds another layer in attack.
(Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
“Increasingly it seems for the Wallabies that the more he’s on the field, no matter what number he’s wearing, what position he plays, the better it is for the Wallabies. A bit like what we saw from Will Skelton. When he was on the field the Wallabies looked penetrative and smart and really physical in the tight stuff.”
Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams agreed with the Carter love.
“He didn’t shirk his defensive responsibilities at all. He actually went looking for contact. It’s very unfortunate and hopefully Lennie Ikitau is okay for the World Cup but if you’re thinking big picture and young Carter on the bench showed why he should be a part of the squad.”
Harry Jones, speaking on The Roar’s Instant Reaction podcast, said: “Carter was thrust into one of the most difficult situations a young player can be.
“I would say his stock rose. By this I mean, I don’t think you’re nervous now about taking Carter Gordon to a knockout match in the World Cup and having him on in the final 10 minutes.”
Harry said Gordon showed a few glimpses of inexperience but “I still think he’s brave.”
The performance of Nawaqanitawase caught everybody’s eye. His quick tap and go in the fifth minute led to the opening try and he looked to have won Australia the game with five to play with a stunning intercept. It was a performance in stark contrast to the damp squib of a wing performance from Suliasi Vunivalu a week earlier in Pretoria.
“Fantastic. Every time we got the ball, he lit the stadium up,” said Eddie Jones. “Kids are jumping off the edge of the seat. He’s that sort of player. Fantastic.”
Argentina coach Michael Cheika was also impressed.
“The two wingers out there for Australia, they’re a bloody handful. You needed two hands to handle them both they were giving us so much grief.”
Jim Tucker, on The Roar podcast, summed it up this way: “That was in Australian Wallaby folklore in a victory. Now it’s small print.
“Nawaqanitawase just nailed that wing spot for good and for the season. That’s the sort of resonant performance that Eddie Jones wants to see across the park. He initiates plays and Suliasi Vunivalu waits for play to be directed his way and it’s just a no contest to be honest. Vunivalu will struggle to see much time at all really.”
Podcast host Brett McKay agreed and said of Vunivalu – who was poor against the Boks a week ago – “I don’t see how he goes to France.”
McKay also talked up Will Skelton – “I thought the first half was his best game in a gold jersey. He was absolutely phenomenal. Samu Kerevi had an impact even when he had to shuffle to 13 when Ikitau went off.
“Carter Gordon, we’ve been saying it all Super Rugby year but he just seems to be able to handle this.”
McKay also predicts a change in the No.15 jersey for the Bledisloe Cup, as long as Andrew Kellaway is passed fit, with Tom Wright having two poor matches to start the Rugby Championship.
He did produce one brilliant try saving tackle but ill-disciplined moments deep in the game left the Wallabies exposed.
T(Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Argentina coach Michael Cheika was praised for his rare victory over Eddie Jones.
“Michael’s game plan was superb, the way he put the Wallabies under enormous pressure,” said Tim Horan on Stan Sport.. “The Wallabies just couldn’t put Argentina under pressure. They couldn’t get past 5,6,7 plus phases and, and the penalty count really went against the Wallabies and stopped any momentum that they could try and get in the match.”
Jones, however, remains steadfast on the way ahead and hinted at solutions withut actually spelling them out.
“In the first two games we’ve scored two super tries early in the game and we move the ball with fluency and quickly, which is how we want to play. We want to play with fluency, and we want to move the ball quickly,”” said Jones.
“But we’re not able to sustain that at the moment. I can give you a fantastic, plausible reason, but you’re not going to believe it, so I’m not going to give it to you.”
Harry Jones said Eddie must quickly find a way to teach his Wallabies exactly what he wants from them, and pointed to a telling comment from the team’s star winger.
“There’s something interesting about Marky Mark being interviewed at the end of the match and they said ‘what do you take from that’ and he said ‘we need to use the ball more’. Your own star player is deviating from the doctrine.”
Eddie Jones will be used to external noise – and it’s coming in loud and fast.