PARIS, France — Eddie Jones has reflected on his explosive reaction to multiple traitor slurs after England’s 2-1 series in Australia last year, saying it was emblematic of how he wants the Wallabies to play at Rugby World Cup 2023.
Jones sat down with ESPN for an exclusive interview on the eve of tournament kick-off, which for the Wallabies begins against Georgia in Paris on Saturday evening [2a.m. Sunday morning AEST], the 63-year-old discussing what advantages there were in his four previous World Cup campaigns, his promotion of Carter Gordon, which Australian players were set to announce themselves to the rugby world and, of course, that fiery response at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Jones’ tenure as England coach would last only five more months after that series win Down Under before he was dumped by the Rugby Football Union, kickstarting a dramatic turn of events that saw him replace Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach just over a month later.
Nine months on, the two-time World Cup runner-up is set to go at the game’s global showpiece once more – a second crack with Australia a dream of which he says never lost sight.
“It didn’t really hurt, mate, because we’d won. But I thought I’d make a point of it because the bloke was out of order and he was drunk, and he was being stupid, and just because he was a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground he thought he’d get away with it,” Jones recalled to ESPN.
“So I made a bit of a point about it. And probably in the back of my mind I always felt that at some stage I was going to come back at some stage to coach Australia. I don’t know why, but I always felt it was there.
“And I didn’t want people to think that I would take that lying down, and I think that’s probably the Australian part of me, the generation that I am out of. You stood up for yourself and you didn’t take any rubbish, if someone came at you, you went back at them. And I want our Australian team to play like that, that’s how we want to play.”
– RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023: Squads | Schedule | Standings | Podcast | Injuries
In five Tests, Jones’ Wallabies haven’t exactly embodied that streetfighter spirit the veteran coach recognizes in himself. There have, however, been fleeting signs that his overhaul of the team — he is trying to move them towards a less structured game plan — is starting to take root.
“I think they’ve got the potential to do it, we haven’t been able to do it yet, but I think we’ve got the potential to do it,” Jones said.
“And even the signs against France, they’re probably at their best, we were still in preseason training for that game, so we could have easily fallen away in that game, but we didn’t, and we’ve got to do that more.”
Jones has, in effect, been serving as the streetfighter on behalf of his team, which has the youngest average age of any squad at the World Cup.
On Saturday evening against Georgia, the Wallabies will average only 19 previous caps of Test experience, while 17 of the matchday 23 will be playing their first ever World Cup game.
Fly-half Carter Gordon is at the head of that new generation, the 22-year-old charged with piloting the Wallabies around the paddock at the World Cup, but with only three starts in the No. 10 jersey behind him.
“Not a lot, mate. It’s just reassuring him that we selected him because we think he’s the best 10 in Australia,” Jones told ESPN when asked what he had been saying to keep Gordon’s confidence up after a tough introduction to Test rugby.
“We went out of our way to select him, we brought him through slowly and we had Quade [Cooper] there to mentor him at the start of the Rugby Championship, and then we felt he needed to be given his freedom to play. And he’s going to have his ups and downs.
“Again, I just look at Richie Mo’unga, it took him about 50 caps to be a really stable 10 at Test level because it’s such a difficult position. And we’re trying to just give him the opportunity to just conduct the team and not have too much responsibility about everything we do and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve changed the team this week to bring Donno [Ben Donaldson] in to do the goal kicking.”
Donaldson will start at fullback in the only real selection shock for the Georgia opener, capping a stunning rise for a player whom many thought was well down the selection chart to even make the 33-man squad.
Elsewhere, Jones’ decision to back youth — the 2027 home World Cup at the forefront of his mind — has thrust the likes of Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight and Angus Bell into the Test rugby cauldron. And then there is a fit-again Taniela Tupou, who Jones on Thursday said had the potential to be “the best tightprop in the world.”
The “Tongan Thor” will bring up his 50th Test cap on Saturday, Jones declaring “consistency” in scrummaging, mauling and in defence as the keys to Tupou fulfilling his potential.
And Jones is bullish about what the Wallabies’ generation-now can do in France over the coming weeks.
“I think there’s a few [players who will star], mate. We just spoke about Tupou; Bell, who’s a young guy, hasn’t played much Test rugby and has come back from a second serious injury, now in his fourth or fifth game back, he’s starting to hit his strap,” Jones said.
“Tom Hooper at 6, the first game of the Rugby Championship, he could barely make a tackle he was so far off the pace, but then he plays in Dunedin against New Zealand and he’s hammering them around the ruck, and he’s only just understanding the player he can be.
“Fraser McReight, and for Australia 7 has always been that position that when we’re strong the 7 has been a bit of an iconic player for us, and we’ve had to talk to him about his game and change his game a little bit, and he’s really responded well to it.
“And then you put [Rob] Valetini in there at 8, he’s the oldest guy in there [the back-row] at 25. He’s just starting his Test career, and he can be one of the most dominant No. 8s in the world. And that’s just the pack for starters.”
Editor’s Picks
-
Rugby World Cup 2023 Week 1 preview, lineups, predictions
Jones’ ability to steer the Wallabies through the pool phase of the World Cup, and then have them peaking for the knockout phase of the tournament, will be vital.
While an improving Georgia shouldn’t pose too many problems, both Fiji and Wales will think Australia are vulnerable after an inglorious start to Jones’ second coming as coach.
But no man in France can call on the same level of World Cup experience as the former Randwick hooker. Four tournaments, two runner-up finishers, the 2007 victory as an assistant with South Africa, and that unforgettable over the same team with Japan, sit atop his tournament resume.
Simply, he knows what it takes to get a team performing at the game’s global showpiece.
“I think it just helps to give you a realistic picture of where you are and what you need to do, and also understand the ebbs and the flows of the tournament,” Jones said of his experience.
“Just for instance, the first week of the tournament, everyone is excited, you’re in a new country, everyone in your squad is excited. Second week, you’ve either had a win or a loss, generally it’s a win, and you’ve got to keep the blokes outside the 23 really motivated.
“You get to the third week, you’re either playing for a quarterfinal or you’re playing against a team who’s desperate to make the quarterfinal, so that’s a big game for you. And then the fourth week is ‘don’t look too far ahead’ because you know you’re in the quarterfinal, but you can get unstuck if you look too far ahead.
“So I think just understanding the nuances and the flow of the tournament definitely helps when you’ve been in it a few times.”
Get the Wallabies to an unlikely World Cup final win, and those past “traitor” slurs will look more foolish than ever. A fiercely proud Australian, Jones never takes a backward step — he just needs his young team to do the same.