Australia is on the verge of missing out on the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup for the very first time in the competition’s history. How a nation that has won the World Cup twice and been a finalist twice can have fallen so badly?
And why are hasty decisions are now backfiring and costing Rugby Australia so much shame?
There is no doubt Eddie Jones is a great coach, but, why appoint him 9 months out from the World Cup to rebuild a team that has been preparing for the past 3 years under Dave Rennie? This is pure madness.
Yes, Rennie’s record was not that great but at the same time, there were some encouraging results that were ignored or pushed under the carpet (two close defeats to the top two teams in the world during November), and the polished performance against New Zealand where the result was overturned by the referee’s pedantic interpretation of the laws.
Since then, what have we seen? The Eddie Jones bragging show – we are going to win in South Africa, the Bledisloe Cup is ours and the NZ economy will nose-dive, we are genuine contenders for the World Cup… Except that the results have not been there, and the selection policy has been pure nonsense.
The Wallabies react after losing to Fiji at the Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
You do not embark on a World Cup adventure without key experienced players and that was clearly visible against Fiji. How can you give the conduct of the game to Carter Gordon who is an unproved player at that level? The poor guy needs more time to learn and should have been the understudy of Quade Cooper or Bernard Foley.
What happened to talented players like Andrew Kellaway who has not played a single minute in this World Cup? And what about the balance of the back row, totally dominated at the breakdown by Fiji?
Australia was always able to produce outstanding backrowers like George Smith, Phil Waugh, David Pocock, Michael Hooper… No-one is taking up the mantle in this team and we start realising that leaving Michael Hooper behind may not have been such a good idea when the team is under pressure.
What about the coaching staff? A rabble of inexperienced ex-rugby league players who do not understand the game of union, especially the breakdown phase. A defence coach who has never coached at that level. The forward coaches are inept as we can see from the performance of the front 5 and the domination of the Fijian scrum.
The inefficiency of the maul is flagrant. Eddie Jones has surrounded himself with people who will not question or threaten him but who do not appear to have the necessary credentials to coach a top national team. Talented coaches like Dan McKellar quickly got the message and left for Leicester. Laurie Fisher was pushed out and criticised for raising concerns.
Of even more concern is the number of injuries.
Allan Alaalatoa. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Rugby is a contact sport and we can expect injuries during games. But soft tissue injuries during training sessions? That is unacceptable when those athletes should be at the peak of their performance.
That raises the question around the competency of our conditioners and fitness experts – why do we “break” so many players during training session? Why do we have so many Australian players with a ruptured Achilles? Quade Cooper, Taniela Tupou, Rob Leota, Allan Alaalatoa in a 1 year period. That should raise questions, especially when we compare to other nations. The Top 14, with its large number of games, does not break that many Achilles. In fact, no French international is out due to a ruptured Achilles.
Jones should have been appointed post World Cup to build a new team. You do not build a new team for an impending World Cup, especially when you get rid of key experienced players before the tournament and cap untested players at that level. This is nonsense and pure madness. You cannot win a World Cup like that.
Hopefully, this generation will not be traumatised by a likely early exit of the World Cup and will be able to grow to face the British and Irish Lions and successfully represent Australia in 2027.
Footy Franks
Roar Rookie
Too much money on league players and coaches, psychiatrists, assistants etc that could have been spent on a strong development club system that would bring back spectators. So many rugby fans out there watching schools and clubs but RA since 2003 (Eddie time) focused on the corporate dollar and profits rather than the grassroots and spectators. Hence no pathways. There is no base strategy just gravy to the Mosman / Shore brigade of RA.
Hughi
Roar Rookie
I just listened to the last Eddie interview and funnily he was a bit subdued and did talk about some of his decisions. He has given it a real good shot in some ways, but in others for all his experience he neglected experience. Hooper, Cooper, and probably one or two others with experience could have been bought to back up the youth, even if they just warmed the bench they have been through a lot and you can't change that it is the way experience works and that is were Eddie has slipped up. Of course, change is necessary in the way rugby is going in this country but I don't think you can change that by picking a different team for this RWC as Eddie has. I think he is correct some players need to move on, it's always going to happen it is how it happened this time in key areas, and I'm not knocking the team as it stands, for where they have to lift to test level I think they are really trying, but 9 months before the cup and a hail mary change to hope they will transform into the immaculate conception and perform at the highest level is not realistic. The whole team changed dramatically when the squad was announced, then 1 match as a warm-up against France. The Dunnedin match was a warm-up but the squad was announced 5 days later (correct me if I'm wrong). I have so little rugby knowledge compared to Eddie so how can I see it's nuts to expect them to perform instantly, they are not noodles. It's legendary how hard Eddie works and drives people but maybe it's time to draw a breath and realize you're not going to fix a national problem in AR by changing one team. I hope we do well against Wales and I don't care if they lose, just a good effort and enjoy it.
Fishman
Roar Rookie
Nailed it re the Oz back 3 should hang their heads in shame. While Botia never doubted his role and got stuck in, McReight and co looked stupidly circumspect around the ruck. Just baffling and dispiriting to watch such a pathetic effort
Wizz
Roar Rookie
Spoke to Johnny Lewis one time at a men of league function and asked him who was the fittest out of Fenech Jeff Harding Kostya tszyu.Suprised slightly when he said Kostya well below both Jeff's on capacity to train hard long hours daily The crux of it is Australia has always prided itself in being fitter than other opponents and possibly less skilled and had great success with that attitude but working smarter not harder is the new ways and just maybe it's coming back too bite.
Skippy89
Roar Rookie
Good questions. good article.
Reds Harry
Roar Rookie
Hard to disagree with any of this. However there is still a game to play on Sunday so for now we have to hope that the Wallabies can produce a winning performance.
Jack Barfly
100% correct on pretty much all fronts - in the unlikely event we make it to the quarter finals, McLennan must go. This is the clearest demonstration of incompetence highlighted by the lack of consultation and hubris by Mclennan and then subsequently by Eddie, hoping for some Alfie Langer style miracle, that we can attribute to his brilliance. Elite sport just doesn't work like this as all the top teams know and demonstrate. Radical changes and smashing the team in training resulting in injuries doesn't make for a good RWC combination. Go the Wallabies!
Passit2me
Roar Rookie
The long history of the past 3 Wallaby coaches experiencing high numbers of injuries to their players, obviously needs further investigation. Cheika smashed the group just before the WC and got injuries, as well as injuries throughout his tenure. Rennie was injury plagued virtually the whole time. Eddie is now having his own team injury nightmare after gruelling training sessions. We are undoubtedly fitter as a result, I see that with support play and the forwards no longer trudging off at half time or blowing hard at lineouts. But, it’s a 2 edged sword. Players coming into camp who are not fit enough for the pace of todays international rugby, need to Physically be brought up to speed in quick time, with more gruelling sessions. That’s a recipe for the disaster we have experienced over the past decade or so. Unfortunately, I think Eddie has fallen into the same Aussie romantic trap that Cheika did. I was optimistic it wouldn’t happen, as I feel Eddie’s young group, have more talent than Cheika’s young group did, and I was confident Eddie would pay more attention to rugby details, where as Cheika seemed more about motivation than rugby IQ. Anyway, keeping a desperate and rampaging Fiji to 1 try, gives me hope for us against Wales. They will also obviously be very desperate, as this is a hotly contested 3 way pool, rather than only 2 clear favourites. If we focus on the breakdown, tell Marika to stop trying to kick, tell Vunivalu to put away his 5 iron for chip kicks, we have the muscle in the forwards and versatility in attack options to win. But, I would swap Marika, not Mark N if Vunivalu comes off the bench. Mark N has been absolutely outstanding.