Wallaby centre Len Ikitau has unloaded on the treatment he received from World Cup coach Eddie Jones.
The Brumbies star was overlooked for the tournament after suffering an injury against Argentina in July, even though he was confident he could have played a role in the seven-week tournament in France.
Jones, who walked out on the Wallabies after helming the side to a catastrophic pool exit in France, continually refused to address the reasons for leaving out Ikitau, while at the same time choosing some other players under fitness clouds for the tournament.
Whenever asked, Jones replied that he did not want to discuss players who were not chosen. It was a source of frustration to the coach including in his infamous Sydney Airport blow up at journalists that the Japan coach claims to regret.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Ikitau has told rugby.com.au that he was disappointed with the way Jones handled communicating with him as he tried to fight back from a 6-8 week injury to realise his World Cup dream.
“I was in contact with the doctor every couple and days and they had me on a conditioning program for a couple of weeks,” said Ikitau.
“They had this one-off Wallabies training if you were based in Brisbane. It was myself, Quade (Cooper), Taniela (Tupou) and the rest of the Brisbane boys.
“They trained for two days and then named the squad on the Friday and I saw Quade there and said ‘I think I’m a chance to be in the squad’.
“When they said they were announcing, they were going to call all the players the night before and it wasn’t until 9:30 pm when I thought ‘what the hell is going on’ and I get a message from ‘Webby’ (World Cup team manager Chris Webb) to get in touch with Eddie and he’ll let you know what your plans are. I was like ‘does that mean I’m not in the squad?’ and he confirmed.”
Ikitau said he thought he could have been fit for the opening win against Georgia. At least he would have been able to play the dire defeats to Fiji and Wales.
“I was just disappointed at the comms I received. A good head coach would’ve called you and told you why you weren’t in the team but at the end of the day we got the manager doing the rounds,” Ikitau said.
“I was disappointed with that and the reasoning around why I wasn’t in the squad was because they didn’t want to take injured players and there was three or four guys injured guys in there.
“It was quite disappointing because at least be honest with the reason why I wasn’t in the team.
“I was ready (for the World Cup). I was already on my way to Barbarians and thought I was fit to play but I sent (former coach Eddie Jones) a message saying I’m ready to go if anything happens and he just wrote back ‘that’s good.’”
Ikitau, 25, said he was returning to Brumbies camp with a Wallabies recall on his mind this year.
“It was obviously disappointing not being in that World Cup squad but I think everything happens for a reason,” he said.
“Everyone who didn’t make the World Cup squad sees 2023 as a terrible year but it was the best year for me because I had my little boy (Lennox). I can’t dwell on not making the squad when the best thing that’s ever happened to me happened in 2023.”
piru
Roar Rookie
Is there any other kind? Haha
Hughi
Roar Rookie
EJ was in complete Hail Mary mode. Cooper's interview in Japan explains a lot of what was going on. I'd rather not know what was in Eddie's head. It would not be far off the mark though to say he felt he could do anything just to see if it would work as he was killing time before the Japan job. If a silver lining can be found is that he did clear the decks for change. And no I don't think he was clever enough to do that intentionally. The way he went about team selection/notification says more about his priorities at the time. I hope he grows up in Japan as the Brave Blossoms don't deserve his stupid behaviour he inflicted on the Wallabies and RA in general.
jameswm
Roar Guru
"One doesn't" if you prefer.
jameswm
Roar Guru
This year has nothing to do with it. The question was who didn't deserve a spot last year. One was injured and a rookie, and the other was a pretty good Super player who didn't even make a match day 23 over there.
Lord Ted Said
Roar Rookie
Ha! Poor sentence structure, a wedding a few months ago and BAM! A pommie brother in law, a lippy one at that…
Old school rugby
Roar Rookie
Bit harsh of two talented players who show great potential. Let us critique then this year.
Old school rugby
Roar Rookie
I didn’t deserve a spot? I think I’m a bit past the selection criteria. Firstly, age and secondly I was never anything above state level and only a couple of times at warming the bench. Mentoring a different cattle of fish.
Hooter
Roar Rookie
I will be transparent. I was initially OK with Eddie's appointment, not how it happened but thought he had the chops to make it work. I knew he would micromanage but I thought in some areas micromanaging was required. Clearly, I was wrong.
Cec
Roar Rookie
Yeah pretty much Eddie’s MO. Although he was our Brums coach back in the day he never came across to me as a genuine bloke. I was glad to see him leave and move on to the WB set up.
graymatter
Roar Rookie
And lets not forget Irae Simone in that backline consideration. He was actually in France at the time!
piru
Roar Rookie
How does one become recently english?
piru
Roar Rookie
Reading it in Eddie's voice it sounds like a text dripping in sarcasm doesn't it?
piru
Roar Rookie
The guy has a weak pass off the ground How this can be said of any 9 above second grade is beyond me, yet we seem to think passing is a nice extra for a scrumhalf to have.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The prop issues were that we took the wrong props. Eddie selected Schoup and Nongorr but was reluctant to play them.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Kemeny and Jorgo for starters. But as I said, you don't deserve a spot in the team anyway.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Yep. Even the difference with Lonergan is stark.
Old school rugby
Roar Rookie
Who didn’t deserve their selection? I’m not asking who you would replace with.
Don
Roar Rookie
Imagine playing 10 and getting that slow ball from White after he's stood, stepped and passed? You are either forced to stand deeper or you get a 6'4" 115kg flying forward skewer you under the armpits.
Don
Roar Rookie
I feel like I am being hard on McDermott, but when I watch Aaron Smith, Dupont, Faf and others, the difference is stark. McDermott and White are both taking the one, two, step that Gregan had to do to get momentum late in his career.
Don
Roar Rookie
Yep. Ridiculous. Couldn't make the Tahs team...