Eddie Jones heads for Wallabies exit as Rugby Australia’s great gamble fails
It may have taken 11 months, but the realisation now seems obvious. The moment it all went wrong for Rugby Australia was when they re-hired Eddie Jones as Wallabies coach.
At the time, Jones’ return prompted a mix of shock and a sense of inevitability. When he was sacked by England in December, there was less than a year to go until the 2023 World Cup. The overriding concern upon the announcement in January was whether Jones would have enough time to turn the fortunes of the Wallabies around. In the end, he had too much.
Jones’s predecessor Dave Rennie had been struggling to get his Wallabies over the line in tight contests, and the rugby faithful were getting restless. But to turn to a new coach, and a new philosophy, with just a handful of matches before the tournament in France was an audacious move by RA and its chairman Hamish McLennan.
For many long-suffering rugby fans, the appointment gave reason for cautious optimism. At the very least the return of the media darling – by then an international rugby icon – was a shot in rugby’s arm that would nudge the struggling code back towards a place in the Australian sporting spotlight. With a home World Cup secured in 2027, returning to the coach who led Australia during the 2003 tournament seemed somehow appropriate.
The early signs were good: Jones helped put rugby back in the news. In a well-attended media unveiling, McLennan sought to explain the reasoning. “This represents an opportunity to secure a coach of immense expertise and experience at the biggest competitions, and we did not want to miss it.”
Jones was a proven international coach with successful stints with Australia, Japan and England. As rugby fans pondered the future of the Wallabies between breaks of play in the cricket, it was inconceivable that the side could be any worse than they had been.
After all, under Jones, Australia just needed to be competitive. Snag a Test or two against the All Blacks and Springboks, or at least limit the blowouts. Blood some youngsters ahead of 2027. And continue Australia’s record of never having been eliminated at a World Cup before the quarter-finals stage.
That would have allowed even cynics to stomach Jones’s outlook on the world – part grin, part snarl, mostly propaganda. “What wins World Cups and the hearts of people are teams that play with spirit,” he said in his first press conference back in charge. “We want pride back in Australian rugby. That’s the most important thing.”
But even at that early stage, there were warning signs. “I used to have plans after plans, I used to have paper everywhere,” Jones said. “One of the things age teaches you is have an idea in your head but don’t get too set to a plan.”
Alongside him at that press conference, McLennan offered Jones “whatever he wants”. It seemed Jones couldn’t fail. Spoiler alert: he did.
Over three years in charge, Rennie had already done much of the hard work. He had introduced emerging talents like Nick Frost, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Ben Donaldson, and leaned on veterans like former captain Michael Hooper – one player surprisingly dropped by Jones – who probably had one World Cup left in them.
And Rennie had begun this process of renewal while remaining competitive. Yes, under the New Zealander, the Wallabies had won barely more than one in three Tests. Yes, they had lost to Italy for the first time. But they had also beaten Wales, and only narrowly lost to Ireland and France. Those are the kind of results that would ultimately have been enough to keep Jones in the job.
Instead, in 2023 Australian rugby got something else. Thrashings from South Africa and New Zealand in July. A home defeat against Argentina. And at the end of them, there was always Eddie, trying to sell something.
Increasingly people weren’t buying. The pressure on Jones was mounting. Before departing for the tournament in France, he unleashed on the local media. “I know what’s wrong with Australian rugby and part of you blokes are the problem,” Jones told a news conference. “If you haven’t got anything positive to say, don’t ask please.”
The questions only got louder. A pre-World Cup defeat to France showed Australia were still uncompetitive. There was worse to come. A barely fathomable defeat to Fiji and then, as the team prepared for a mustwin match against Wales, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald that Jones had interviewed for the Japan job.
The mood had shifted entirely. Jones had represented the high point of Australian rugby. Under his coaching, the Wallabies’ valiant defeat to Jonny Wilkinson’s England at the home World Cup in 2003 established the side as Australia’s favourite international sporting brand.
But the sporting world in 2023 had changed. There were murmurs of discontent when Jones was given responsibilities over both men’s and women’s pathways, despite showing little appetite for the women’s game. Those burst forth in August when the Wallaroos issued a coordinated social media statement alleging favouritism towards the men. As the Matildas’ mainstream arrival marked a new era of sport in Australia, it was becoming obvious 2003 was a long time ago.
Jones – in theory – was a rugby visionary, who could conjure a competitive spirit like few others. And he had a fiveyear contract. On-field success can silence even the harshest critics, and a win against Wales at the World Cup would have kept the emperor clothed. Instead his players produced a 40-6 defeat – the Wallabies’ worst-ever World Cup loss – and Jones was critically exposed.
The 63-year-old has repeatedly denied pursuing the Japan job and said he remained committed to the Wallabies. When he returned home from France, he declared “I’m staying, mate”.
Two weeks later, it appears he has few friends left in Australian rugby. RA is working through legal formalities over his departure.
He will leave with a record of two wins and seven losses, a worse win-rate than Rennie’s and responsibility for the Wallabies’ worst-ever World Cup performance.
If surprise followed Jones’ appointment, it is absent in his departure. A week before he took the Australian job, he said Japan is “where I feel most relaxed, mate”. As Jones puts his feet up, the work for Rugby Australia and McLennan begins anew.