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Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh is adamant the sport is still in a healthy state despite Eddie Jones’ tumultuous second stint as Wallabies coach ending with his abrupt resignation four years ahead of schedule.
The former Wallabies forward said they were devastated by their shambolic World Cup failure but was confident the team could rebuild to be a force leading into the 2027 tournament on home soil.
The CEO also bristled at Eddie Jones’ sledge of veteran players Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley. Jones had described them as not good role models for the Wallabies – who suffered a humiliating and historic pool exit in France.
While claiming the sport had a bright future, Waugh conceded rugby was financially challenged at the moment before adding a “sensible outcome” had been negotiated with Jones
He accepted the board takes ultimate responsibility for the decision to bring Jones back this year which backfired spectacularly with the team not even making the World Cup quarter-finals in France.
Waugh wouldn’t comment on suggestions chairman Hamish McLennan should fall on his “captain’s pick” to bring Jones back.
“We’ve got a lot of ground to make up in building trust with our stakeholders and the community,” Waugh said after fronting the media on Tuesday.
“We feel the pain, we feel like we’ve let them down.
“Our focus will be reconnecting with the Australian public rather than where Eddie’s going to be.
“It’s been pretty disappointing and we’re all responsible.”
Waugh, who also reiterated that Sydney Roosters star Joseph Suaalii was committed to his three-year contract from 2-25 onwards, claimed RA had a “very strong direction and vision” and was in the process of resetting “alignment on all all high performance teams”.
“The sooner we can get to an aligned high performance system the better the game is going to be,” he said.
“The (World Cup) campaign was clearly very disappointing and I think a proud rugby nation like Australia for us to perform the way we did was very, very disappointing. Certainly the expectations of the organisation, the expectations of rugby supporters, all Australians, it was very, very disappointing.
“We’ve been working with Eddie through the process and think we ended up at a sensible outcome.”
Waugh said he “took Eddie on his word” when he denied reports when they emerged last month that he was going to jump ship.
Michael Cheika shakes hands with Wallabies coach Eddie Jones in July. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
When asked about contenders to replace Jones, he said they were open to getting “the best coach for our team” regardless of whether they are Australian or from overseas and was happy for the process to last “however long it takes”.
World Cup-winning former player Stephen Larkham and fellow ex-Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar are expected to be RA’s top targets to replace Jones.
Waugh didn’t rule out Michael Cheika, who guided Australia to the 2015 World Cup final, making a return, or outgoing All Blacks coach Ian Foster, fresh off plotting New Zealand’s path to the final in France, as potential candidates.
Larkham is currently coaching the ACT Brumbies after taking over from McKellar, who is head coach at Leicester Tigers in the UK.
McKellar was Rennie’s forwards coach, and believed to be viewed as next in line to succeed the Kiwi, but resigned earlier this year when Jones was appointed to the top job.
Eddie Jones. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Jones had been heralded as the Wallabies’ saviour when appointed by McLennan after the axing of previous incumbent Dave Rennie.
He coached Australia to the World Cup final in 2003 and took England to the 2019 decider before being sacked late last year after a run of poor results.
But he made a series of confounding decisions on his return to the Wallabies hot-seat, including naming a young, inexperienced squad for the World Cup and leaving out long-serving skipper Hooper and playmaker Cooper.
It was his shot at those two and Foley in an interview last week that upset Waugh.
“I think it’s a completely unfair comment,” Waugh told reporters.
“Across Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, I think there’s 280-300 Test matches between those three. They’ve all put their body on the line over a long period of time and are role models to not just their peers but young boys and girls coming through the system.
“So I think it is an absolutely unfair comment towards those players, given what they’ve contributed to rugby.”
Australia’s players were also rocked when Jones was linked with the Japan coaching vacancy. He was forced to deny he’d interviewed for the role just days out from the tournament opener in Paris.
Two weeks ago, Jones insisted he was “100 per cent committed” to overseeing the Wallabies through to the next World Cup, on home soil in 2027.
But by last weekend he had offered his resignation to the RA hierarchy.
The breaking point for Jones was RA lacking the finances to fast track the move to centralisation and greater alignment between Australia’s five Super Rugby clubs.
“When we think about not just the high performance elements but also community funding pathways, I’ve gotta be fiscally responsible as to how we spend our money,” Waugh said.
“Certainly running high-cost programs in an environment where we’re fiscally challenged we’ve got to be really sensible in the end.”
It’s believed Jones will walk away from his hefty contract without a payout. He insisted he had no other international role to go to, including the Japan position which has yet to be filled.
with AAP
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