Good, the bad, the Eddie: You've lost respect, rugby - and the Wallaby leader of the next generation

While the atmosphere has been excellent throughout the World Cup tournament, there is one aspect causing some consternation for purists.

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones was the subject of intense feral booing last week when his face went up on the big screen in the match against Portugal. While usually it’s mainly opposition fans giving him the jeers, the Tv footage showed Australians adding to the din.

Beyond that personal attack, we have seen a complete breakdown of respect for goal kickers. The big screens in the stadia send a message to ‘Respect the Kicker’ ahead of goal attempts – but every shot is now accompanied by a deluge of booing.

Respectful silence during kicks has been an admirable facet of rugby – and not that far in the past – but things are changing.

So far, the respectful co-mingling of rival fans in the stands and in the streets before and after a match, continues but is it over dramatic to think this could be the next rugby trait to fall? Other codes are forced to separate fans and cram the streets with riot cops. Let’s hope rugby can maintain its sense of fraternity.

Jones, meanwhile, had an interesting spin on the booing, blaming it on refereeing and the TMO.

“Rugby has been a game based on values – and fair play has been one of them. The way the game is being refereed is causing crowd problems. We have got so many stoppages in the game now. We had a TMO for everything. I am of the firm opinion that we are destroying the flow of the game,” said Jones.

“We need to make the referee the sole judge of the game and if there is something that is an obvious red card, that is foul play, then go back to that. We have got to keep the game moving.

“I think part of it is with the crowd is that there is so much discontent with the flow of the game. I don’t know how many minutes they spent with the TMO on the [Portugal] maul try. It was obvious it was a no try so why do we have to watch replays and replays of it?

“Our game is not a game of science. It’s not like cycling or rowing. It’s a human game based on the contest for the ball. I’ve said this before and I know it’s falling on deaf ears, but I’ll keep going. We have got to look after the game and the way we support the game is important too.”

The competition is also struggling with a key area of the modern world – how to handle social media.

World Rugby has been ruthless in removing social media clips of the tournament – a move that has angered rugby focussed content producers who use game footage to bring the tournament to life.

The argument is that in a World Cup struggling for mainstream acceptance, the sharing of great tries and big moments can only help grow the excitement and interest in the tournament, as well as build the knowledge base for fans everywhere.

But almost as soon as clips are shared the WR rights department has them ripped down.

This reached a ludicrous level on Wednesday when Wayne Barnes – one of the top few referees in the game, and a lawyer, posted a clip from a game he refereed last week that he said showcased a “very classy” moment of sportmanship from a player he had just yellow carded.

Instead WR blocked the video that was shared thousands of times on Barnes’ Twitter account.

The good…

Booing Eddie aside, the Portuguese fans were a lot of fun and danced and chanted for hours ahead of the game outside the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Etienne. They waved placards including one that taunted Wallabies fans with the claim that “Ronaldo is bigger than Australia.”

There has been some debate too on French neutrals breaking into loud renditions of their national anthem “La Marseillaise” – like a sonic Mexican Wave.

While this writer has found it a powerful and enjoyable statement, it’s fair to say The Roar’s Harry Jones has the opposite opinion railing against “this anthem wankery”.

Bell of the ball

With Australia looking likely for an early exit there have clearly been quite a few disappointments. But along with that, some players have really stood up in the past month.

Young prop Angus Bell has been among Australia’s best but also brutally honest about the team and its odd lack of fortitude under pressure at times.

“We’ve got to turn into a team that fights. There’s been moments this year where we haven’t,” Bell said after the win over Portugal.

He should be the cornerstone of whichever coach comes in next if Eddie does indeed depart.

“It’s exciting times. Obviously, we’ve got a few young blokes in the team. And I’ll be 26 when that World Cup comes around, and hopefully I’m still running around,” said Bell.

‘Beautiful image of community”

While there have been issues with fans not showing complete respect, you can only applaud the way players have been with each other.

The scenes at the end of that epic Fiji win over Georgia were raw and packed with emotion. Fiji scrambled the ball dead as Georgia hunted the try that would have won the game and given Australia a better chance of progressing. Players from both teams were out on their feet but the Fijians moved quickly to console their beaten rivals.

There were similar scenes at the end of the Tonga vs. South Africa game, where the players linked together in a huge circle and prayed together.

“I was struck by the image of the South African and Tongan players gathering together at the end of their match to celebrate the contest they had just experienced for 80 minutes: a beautiful image of community and unity between competitors,” said tournament chairman Jacques Rivoal.

“We have seen similar scenes in the fan zones, with the singing of the Welsh fans mixing with others, wonderful rugby gestures and a sense of community.”

Former Springbok Schalk Brits, speaking on the official World Cup podcast said: “I suppose that is the beauty about rugby if you compare it to any other sports. Although you try to smash the living crap out of each other for 80 minutes afterwards you often have a beer together after the game.

“They prayed together and they probably had a couple of cold ones. That is what rugby is all about. I can remember playing against a lot of guys and thinking they are an absolute … but after you have a beer with the guy and you think he’s just like me. He is very competitive, he wants to win the game but afterwards you relax and have one of these [beer].”

Earl takes the mickey

England forward Ben Earl has copped plenty for his over-elaborate celebrations of some rather mundane acts during a game – like winning a penalty or turnover, or even an opponent’s incorrect lineout throw.

But Earl has shown himself to be a good sport about the backlash after it was suggested he would celebrate the opening of a pack of chips.

The bad

As good as the ending was to that Fiji-Georgia thriller it featured one of the most baffling moments of the tournament so far, when English referee Karl Dickson opted not to go to TMO and rule a forward pass that prevented a Georgian try moments before halftime. A 9-0 lead could easily have become 16-0.

You can only imagine how the Aussies, watching the game from their team base, reacted when Dickson made the hasty call – which aerial footage later suggested he’d got wrong.

Even if he felt the ball went forward why not give everyone an opportunity and send it upstairs?

Fair play to Georgia’s coach and players who opted not to blow up about the call post-match.

Tragedy for Fiji

The World Cup was rocked by news that Fiji flyer Josua Tuisova’s son died while the star player was in France.

Just hours before the Georgia game the giant centre was told his his seven-year-old son had died in Fiji after a long-term illness.

Tuisova opted to stay with the team to bid for a quarterfinal place.

And the Eddie

With a full block of Eddie up earlier in this story, let’s keep this one brief.

While the Australian coach was battling tempests on two fronts – will he stick around to honour his contract, and why has his 2023 team failed? – Eddie still managed to slip a one-liner into his post-match press conference.

“Do you want to know where I’m going to go? I’ll have to make something up as I have no idea at this stage… Maybe take some kava to Fiji, maybe that might work,” he joked when asked about his plans for the mini-break this week.

“I’m thinking of giving Marika (Koroibete) and (Suliasi) Vunivalu credit cards.”

Fiji assistant Brad Harris joked back: “We will take Eddie’s credit card after we beat Portugal. Pass that back to Eddie, we’ll take his credit card to buy some kava for our team function.”