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Former Wallabies Justin Harrison and Andrew Slack join a high-performance expert, charged with a review into the team’s World Cup fiasco by the end of the year.
The Wallabies have already lost coach Eddie Jones – who resigned last week having led the Australians to their worst ever World Cup performance – and the review will examine the strategy and structure of the Wallabies’ performance environment in 2023 – where the team lost seven of nine matches and slumped to 9th in the world rankings.
Harrison, who is a commentator with Stan Sport as well as CEO of the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA), played in the 2003 World Cup final.
Slack represented Australia 39 times and was the captain of the Grand Slam winning Wallabies in 1984, the 1986 Bledisloe Cup victory on Kiwi soil, and led Australia at the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup at home.
The pair are joined by high-performance professional Darlene Harrison. She spent more than a decade at the Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in a number of high-performance and executive roles, most recently as the Head of Performance Coaching and Leadership, and as Deputy Director – Performance People and Teams at the AIS.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
A Pasifika advisor will also support the panel and process.
“As rugby fans, we were all disappointed in the results at the World Cup – the performance was not good enough for a proud rugby nation like ours,” said RA CEO Phil Waugh in a statement.
“We had a new coach, new staff and a lot of new players – many of whom have only just started their careers, and who will be the future stars of Australian rugby.
“The Wallabies have a proud history as one of Australia’s most loved sporting teams, and it is our responsibility as custodians to continually seek to improve performance and deliver a world-class program.
“Andrew, Justin and Darlene are highly respected, and I believe they possess the credentials to be able to deliver a thorough and considered external review.”
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.