- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Former Wallabies back-rower Stephen Hoiles has labelled the criticism directed at Eddie Jones as “disgusting”, arguing Australian rugby’s issues are systemic and go far beyond the coach of the national side.
Hoiles added that Jones was one of the few people capable of planning for the future whilst also ensuring the Wallabies can go deep into this year’s World Cup knockout stages.
There had been great hopes that Jones would be able to turn the Wallabies around immediately after being parachuted in to replace Dave Rennie at the start of the year.
The New Zealand coach was replaced after managing just a 38 per cent win record after three years in the role.
But fearing an early exit at this year’s World Cup and wanting to ensure they locked in Jones beyond this year’s World Cup to spearhead their run into hosting the tournament in 2027, Rugby Australia pounced on the 63-year-old’s services after being let go by the Rugby Football Union.
Three tough losses, including to South Africa in Pretoria and New Zealand at home, has turned the screws firmly on both Jones and RA following losing the Bledisloe Cup for a 21st straight year and their worst Rugby Championship campaign.
It has also seen several former players and coaches both home and abroad criticise RA’s decision to farewell Rennie.
Former Wallabies coach John Connolly, who took over from Jones ahead of the 2007 World Cup where Australia was knocked out at the quarter-finals to England, led the charge describing Jones as a “charlatan” and “failed selector”.
“A bloody disaster mate,” Connolly told the UK Telegraph ahead of the 38-7 loss to the All Blacks.
“How did we end up with Eddie again? He is full of it. He talks a great game but plays a terrible one. He is a charlatan, he is a failed selector. He was the captain’s pick by the chairman who just came into the job.”
He added: “When I took over from Eddie, the players were like beaten down sheepdog. If you walked in a room they would have their heads down and were scared to do anything. There was no leadership. There was no development. It was a total void that took nearly a year to rebuild. I can’t believe we have made the same mistake again.”
Hoiles, who played under Jones and Connolly for the Wallabies, said the external noise was simply not addressing the problems in Australian rugby.
“The first point is you don’t change your coaches,” Hoiles told Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts podcast when asked how the Wallabies could once again challenge for the Bledisloe Cup.
“You’ve done that enough. Now we’ve realised that that ain’t the problem. The system is the problem.
“We’ve had a lot of quality coaches in the last 10 years and they’ve all walked out going something’s wrong here, so that is not the solution. It’s the first person you want to criticise and the negativity around that stuff in particular from ex-players and coaches is disgusting.
“Like, they thought Australian rugby was sitting number one in the world at the start of the year and all of a sudden we’ve lost to the All Blacks. We’re actually supposed to lose to the All Blacks based on how the ranking system works.”
Since winning their second Webb Ellis Cup in 1999 and making the final under Jones in 2003, the Wallabies’ gradual slide has been on show since the expansion of Super Rugby and the addition from three to four and then five franchises.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
With the exception of the Wallabies’ relative success in 2015 by making the World Cup final, the national side has dropped as low as eighth on World Rugby’s rankings.
Hoiles said the lack of success at Super Rugby was another indicator that the Wallabies would struggle at the international level.
“The problem is this professional level below Test footy, that’s what you got to fix,” he said.
“Club footy, junior footy, sevens, women’s, every other aspect in the game is thriving, school footy, it’s all going really well. It’s just that professional level below the Wallabies, these guys they’re inherently just losing too much rugby individually.
“You can’t expect a Wallaby team that has basically just lost most of their games the last two or three years in Super Rugby to go out and just become winners. It’s a habit and they’re not getting those habits enough.”
Ireland, whose population is around five million people, have managed to have sustained success over the past decade since Australian Steve Anderson drastically overhauled their system.
The crunch decisions made by the Irish Rugby Football Union in the early 2000s have since been refined and developed by former Wallaby David Nucifora, who has once again led Ireland to the top of World Rugby’s rankings on the eve of the World Cup.
Rugby Australia is currently on the hunt for a Ewen McKenzie-type figure to spearhead the governing body’s high-performance plan to assist with the rebuild.
Hoiles said that Jones’ intellect would help.
“Here’s the thing. I don’t think any coach other than Eddie has got the ability to have an eye on the next five years like he would,” Hoiles said.
“He’s the guy that has the backing, the IP, the experience to be able to say ‘no, this needs a significant change.’ So that’s his challenge for next year to make sure there’s some type of change.”
Despite the Wallabies’ winless start to 2023, which doesn’t get any easier this weekend for the return Bledisloe bout in Dunedin, Hoiles said Jones’ side could still go deep at next month’s World Cup because of a favourable draw.
“As silly as it sounds, and drinking the Kool-Aid, I think we’re a chance at the World Cup based on our pool. They need more time together. That’s as clear as day,” Hoiles said.
It’s an opinion widely shared given the Wallabies remain the highest ranked side in their pool, where they will meet Georgia (11th), Fiji (10th), Wales (ninth) and Portugal (16th).
Former World Cup-winner Sir John Kirwan outright said the Wallabies couldn’t win the World Cup, but thought they remained a chance of making the semi-finals given they will likely come up against either England [sixth] or Argentina [seventh].
“I think we’re [New Zealand] going to win it,” he said.
“I’m talking about Australia getting through the pool, and actually getting to the quarter-finals. Fiji aren’t too bad and Wales, Gats [returning head coach Warren Gatland] is no slug either, so that’s going to be a really interesting pool, but it’s lighter than the other side. So, if they get to the quarter-finals, they can get through to the semi-finals, but I don’t think they’ve got the depth to go all the way like you guys [in 2015] had the depth.”
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.