Rugby World Cup: Wallabies captain Will Skelton on Rugby Australia review, Eddie Jones criticism
Wallabies captain Will Skelton says his players will speak openly and honestly if asked to participate in Rugby Australia’s review of the World Cup disaster.
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Gutted Wallabies captain Will Skelton says he’s willing to take part in a full review into Australia’s disastrous World Cup campaign.
The details around who will participate in the review and exactly what it will look into are still to be announced, but this masthead can reveal players will be included and encouraged to speak up.
Skelton, the surprise choice as skipper, said he had not yet been told when the review would happen but would be happy to share his perspective on how it all went so badly wrong.
“That stuff will be out of my hands, but if they ask me questions I’ll be honest,” he said.
“I’m not too sure how that will all transpire.
“If the powers that be think that the review needs to happen it’ll happen and you (the media) will probably get to find whatever you want to find.
“I’m sure every player would co-operate.”
Injured during training, Skelton’s absence from the two matches the Wallabies lost against Fiji and Wales had a huge bearing on the team’s catastrophic early exit.
There have been questions asked about why so many players got hurt at training — with Taniela Tupou also missing the crunch games against Fiji and Wales, while teenager Max Jorgsensen was sent home after breaking his leg.
Skelton does not know whether he will be able to play in Australia’s final pool game against Portugal next weekend and said he still had no idea how his calf injury happened.
“I don’t think it’s linked,” he said. “It was a freak thing, wrong place, wrong time.”
Skelton, 31, said his disappointment was compounded by the realisation he may never play at another World Cup, even though Australia is hosting the next one in 2027.
“I think I’m on the wrong side of the age bracket, but I’ve seen older guys go to World Cups,” he said. “I thought that 2015 was my last World Cup.
“It’s tough. You never come into a campaign to get a couple of losses and almost end the tournament. The boys are really disappointed and gutted. We’ve got one more shot to put out a good performance and that’s what we’re focusing on now.
“When you play for Australia, there’s a lot more than selection on the line. You’re obviously playing for your coach, but you always play for your coach, you’re always playing for your families, the people behind you, everyone in Australia.
“We’ve got to take the learnings from this match because if we don’t, we won’t be able to move forward as a team.
“We prepped well. It was probably our best week of prep. That’s the sort of frustrating thing that it didn’t transfer on the field. But you’ve got to give credit to Wales. They squeezed us. They put pressure on us. Their defence was awesome”
Skelton refused to buy into the criticism of coach Eddie Jones, saying the under-siege Wallabies coach had his full backing over the decision to go for a new look team to carry Australian rugby into the future.
“I think his long-term vision and what he wants Australian rugby to be back to, that’s a positive, the way he is around the group. I think you see in the media, he has his persona around them,” Skelton said.
“He’s a fantastic coach with a massive rugby IQ that we’re learning every day when we’re working with him.
“He simplifies the game of rugby for us and unfortunately we couldn’t perform up to those standards on the weekend and the weeks gone by, to really show that coaching that’s been happening in the last few months. That’s on the players and that’s on us owning that and putting our hands up as well.”
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Originally published as Rugby World Cup: Wallabies captain Will Skelton on Rugby Australia review, Eddie Jones criticism
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