PARIS – Eddie Jones has had a cheeky dig at World Rugby and sent a subtle message to English referee Luke Pearce ahead of his team’s World Cup opener against Georgia on Sunday (AEST).

Pearce refereed the Wallabies’ final match before the tournament – a 41-17 loss to France on August 27.

One decision from Pearce outraged the Australians when he yellow carded Suliasi Vunivalu for going off his feet at a ruck. The decision had a major impact on the game and Jones was asked about Pearce’s interpretations ahead of the Georgia game.

Jones was asked if he felt Pearce’s policing of the ruck in the English Premiership, which is geared towards quick release, would favour Jones’ big pack or Georgia, and Jones ran away with his answer in an unexpected direction.

“World Rugby is here aren’t they. I’m sure they’re here somewhere. They’re always in the shadows. They’ve got listening devices everywhere. Everything you say gets recorded and you don’t want any black marks against you mate,” said Jones.

“So to say a referee would favour one side over the other would be probably a black mark.”

Jones then, perhaps unfairly, told the English reporter: “So I hope you’ve got a better question, mate. Maybe you should sit next to Christy a bit, get a bit of intellectual property off him.” That was a reference to an earlier question from The Roar’s Christy Doran that Jones felt was astute.

The Wallabies coach did follow through to make his point and put Pearce on notice.

“The interesting decision against France was when Suli got sin binned for a legitimate action, but in  Premiership, when you make a line break and you interfere with that breakdown, they deem it as an automatic sin bin. I’m sure that World Rugby’s had a chat to him about that. And that won’t be the case on Saturday.”

Pack can dominate World Cup

The Wallabies have the youngest team at the tournament but Jones believes they have the firepower to impress.

“I never would have dreamt coming to press conference as a coach of Australia saying we’ve got a huge pack that could dominate the World Cup – and we have and we intend to use that to our advantage,” said Jones.

“We’ve got a really big, strong, fast pack that’s ready to take on the opposition and that starts with Georgia.”

He’s clearly loving being back in charge of an Australian team at a World Cup 20 years on from reaching the final in 2003, although he tried to deflect on Thursday.

“Yeah, well, it’s not really about me. It’s about the team and about what we can do for Australia,” said Jones.

“We went to Arnhem Land because we wanted to feel where the Australian society first started, where the indigenous people started our great country.

“And then we went to Villers-Bretonneux to feel what people have given up to protect Australia. And now we’ve got that opportunity to be ambassadors for Australia on a huge stage.

“I think the game is sold out, 80,000, like who would have thought 10 years ago Australia playing Georgia at the Stade de France would sell out. This is the magnitude of the World Cup. World Rugby gets a lot of criticism and maybe some of it’s justified, but their ability to put on a massive tournament like this and run it, and obviously the French Organising Committee is absolutely first class.

“Coming into Paris yesterday from our training camp, you could feel the buzz in Paris. So it’s not about me, it’s about what our players can do. All I’m trying to do is give them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams, and we’ve got a chance on Saturday night to fulfill a dream.”

Since returning to Australia, Jones has reduced the team’s average age, making some brutal decisions on the futures of veterans such as Quade Cooper and Michael Hooper. He shrugged off a question on the age profile.

“There’s no advantage or disadvantages. It’s our best team. It’s 20 years since Australia’s picked a young team like this, and it shows a changing of the guard,” said Jones.

“This is a new team that wants to take Australian rugby forward. We want to play a game that enthuses people in Australia to want to follow the Wallabies again.

“We’ve dropped down the rankings and followings in Australia in the national sports team and we want to we want to be a team that everyone in Australia admires, respects, they want to watch play and this group of young men have got the opportunity on Saturday to do that.

“For such a young team, the way they’ve conducted themselves during the preparation of the World Cup has been absolutely first class and Will’s [Skelton] done a great job as captain, stepped in post the Rugby Championship, and they’re ready to go on Saturday. And we want to be that team that is admired, respected and everyone in Australia is sitting on the edge of their seat and can’t wait to see this team play.”

Tate sets pass mark at final win

Wallabies vice-captain Tate McDermott says the team will have failed if they don’t lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

Asked what represented a pass mark for this tournament, the Reds captain replied: “Pass mark? – I’d say to go all the way. To be honest, we’re not here to scrape out of the pool stages.

“A pass mark and it should be for all Australians – we’ve got to win it. There’s a lot of water under the bridge before we do that but that’s the pass mark.”

There are sure to be fans who groan when they read that line. Wallabies’ optimism is often met with the view that talk is cheap considering the 0-5 record under Jones.

“Honestly, I don’t read a hell of a lot from back home but any fan would be disappointed with an 0-5 record regardless of the team they follow,” said McDermott.

“I think fans want to believe in us but we haven’t shown them enough yet, shown them hardly anything yet. If you look at the trend with how Australians get behind World Cup teams – we saw it with the Matildas at the football World Cup – they had a pretty good run in but they started winning games consistently and until we do that, the fans back home won’t do that.

“We know it’s a pretty big journey ahead but we can’t afford to think about that at the moment, we’ve got to focus on what we can control and that’s how the team plays Saturday.”

Aussie-born Scot’s tears for mum

Sione Tuipulotu has been left overcome with emotion as he revealed his mother would watch him play for Scotland for the first time, providing all the motivation he needs for their Rugby World Cup showdown with South Africa.

The Australian centre is qualified to represent the Scots through his grandmother, Jacqueline, and he has become one of Gregor Townsend’s main men since making his debut in 2021, shortly after he joined Glasgow.

While Tuipulotu’s Tongan father Fohe has been over to watch him play for Scotland, his mother Angelina – who is from Melbourne after her Scottish and Italian parents moved there – has not been able to attend any of his matches in person since he left Melbourne Rebels in 2019.

The 26-year-old apologised to journalists as he welled up with tears and briefly paused to compose himself while outlining the journey his mother had undertaken to get herself to France to see her son play on the biggest stage in rugby on Sunday (Monday AEST).

“My mum got here yesterday and it will be the first time she’ll have watched me play rugby for quite a while,” said Tuipulotu.

“I had a chat with her yesterday when she got to Paris and it was quite an emotional phone call, she just said how proud she was. 

“Obviously, it’s her mum that is part of my Scottish heritage and she said she is really proud when she sees me during the anthem and hears the background in terms of Murrayfield, the noise and stuff like that while she’s watching on television.

“I can’t really imagine how she is going to feel this weekend with the noise in Marseille when I’m playing the world champions. That is part of my motivation this week, I don’t need any extra motivation.”

Since joining Glasgow from Japanese club Yamaha Jubilo in 2021, Tuipulotu has become a first-choice pick for Scotland and one of the most highly-regarded centres in the world.

“I would be lying if I said to you I didn’t think it was going to be achievable because I have always backed myself through my whole career,” he said.

“I have always been a confident player and when I moved over to Scotland, I had the goal that if I was going to move that far away from my family, I was going to make it happen.

“You need some things to go your way in order to make it happen and I got lucky with the coaches I had as soon as I came over here, but it’s also about my hard work as soon as I came over to try to keep improving as a player.

“It has been an awesome journey over the past couple of years and I am super-excited for the tournament to kick off. 

“As a kid I wanted to be one of the best players in my position in the world and this is the tournament you get to prove that.”

Borthwick: Players feel written off

Steve Borthwick insists England are ready to defy gloomy predictions for their World Cup by delivering a reaction against Argentina.

The Pumas are in the rare position of being assigned favourites for the main event of Pool D, based on a strong year under the guidance of Michael Cheika and their 30-29 victory at Twickenham in November.

England, meanwhile, have gone into freefall following a run of five defeats in six Tests that no longer makes qualification for the knockout phase appear to be the formality it once was.

Borthwick, who has named Alex Mitchell at scrum-half and Tom Curry at openside for the Marseille showdown, insists the low expectations have sent ripples of indignation through the squad.

“I sense there is a feeling among the players they’ve been written off too early. People have called time on them a bit too early,” England’s head coach said.

“I sense the frustration about what people have been saying about them and right now I have an expectation that they will go and perform with the quality that they have. I sense from them that there’s a real determination to go and put their best performances on the park.

“There is a lot of class in this squad. The players have a hell of a lot more to go. They can’t wait to get stuck in on Saturday night.

“Our job is put in a performance that this team is capable of and I know these players are capable of. I know these players are determined to deliver on Saturday night. That’s our job now.”

Borthwick’s theme of an England side ready to exit their slump in time to make an impact at the World Cup was taken up by captain Courtney Lawes, who is leading the team in the absence of the suspended Owen Farrell.

When asked if the players are angry at recent performances, Lawes replied: “There’s definitely a frustration. We feel it as much as anybody.

“We are in the thick of it and we are doing everything we can to make sure, come this weekend, we are firing on all cylinders. It’s going to be a hell of a spectacle, so enjoy it. We are going out all guns blazing and we are going to give it everything we have got.

“It’s the first game of the World Cup and we’re going to be well up for it.”

Offering hope to England supporters is the selection of Mitchell ahead of Danny Care and Ben Youngs, with the 26-year-old half-back a more dynamic presence than his veteran rivals for the jersey.

The tempo and energy brought by Mitchell, both through his delivery and with the ball in hand, was one of the few highlights to emerge from a chastening defeat by Fiji last month.

Remarkably he starts in England’s biggest game since the 2019 World Cup final despite being overlooked for their original 33-man squad, with an injury to Jack van Poortvliet offering his route to France.

“Alex was a dangerous running threat against Fiji; everyone knows he is a dangerous running threat,” Borthwick said. “Immense credit to Mitch in that he was incredibly disappointed not to make the original 33-man squad. An opportunity opened up.

“One of the positives that came out of that Fiji game was his performance. He played well and he’s trained exceptionally well. He’s ready to go.”

Foster: ‘Never seen a build up like this one’

New Zealand coach Ian Foster says the All Blacks have a point to prove in their World Cup opener against hosts France, a match he feels is unprecedented in terms of hype even if it ultimately may not turn out to be hugely important.

The All Blacks were crushed 35-7 by South Africa in their final warm-up match at Twickenham two weeks ago and Foster, while downplaying the importance of that match, said he did expect a reaction from his players against France on Friday night (Saturday AEST).

“Do we have a point to prove? Yeah, we always do. I don’t think you can ever hide from that,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“We’re a very proud team and we want to play well – and we’re determined to. 

“Then we’ll really assess after that to see where we’re at, and how we progress in this tournament.”

New Zealand have won only one of their three World Cups on foreign soil and Foster said he was well aware of the enormity of the task facing his players if they wanted to match the feat of the 2015 team, who beat Australia in the final at Twickenham.

“The All Blacks have learned over history, you just don’t turn up at a World Cup and get what you want just by being here,” he added.

“You’ve got to do something special, and you’ve got to play well. And there’s been a lot of good All Black teams that haven’t been able to achieve that.”

After spending so long preparing for the tournament, Foster said, the All Blacks were desperate to get out onto the Stade de France pitch in front of a sell-out crowd of 80,000 fans at the Stade de France in Paris and show what they could do.

“We’re ready to go and we want to walk out on that park with shiny eyes, nice and light, and we just want to play and we’re ready to play,” he said.

New Zealand beat South Africa 23–13 in their opening match at the 2019 World Cup only to be knocked out in the semi-finals and watch on as the Springboks lifted the trophy for the third time.

The All Blacks have never lost a World Cup pool match but Foster said it might not matter much in the greater scheme of the tournament if they were beaten on Friday.

“I’ve never seen a build up for a game like this one. I’ve never seen people put so much on it,” he said.

“It’s well scripted but at the end of the day, it’s a game we want to go into and commit everything to, and afterwards that doesn’t really change. Whether we win or whether we lose, we’ve still got to qualify out of this group.”