The Wallabies’ performance against South Africa was an embarrassment and can’t be repeated, writes Julian Linden

What happened against South Africa was an embarrassment and can’t be repeated. If Eddie Jones wants this team to succeed, he needs to get his players to respond on the field like he does off it.

It was a nightmare return for Eddie Jones. Picture: Getty Images

So much for Eddie the saviour and his magical cattle prod.

Just one match into his second reign in charge, the reappointed Wallabies’ coach is back to his old tricks, manufacturing fights with journalists after his first stab at trying to solve the team’s long losing streak ended as badly as the man he replaced.

Good try, but no-one is falling for that old one.

Calling reporters “smartarses” might get Eddie Jones a lot of clickbait and pats on the back from his fawning cheerleaders, but it doesn’t hide the real elephant in the room - that the Wallabies remain an undisciplined rabble unable to back up their words with actions.

“We got beaten to the punch everywhere. We got beaten in the set piece, at the gain line and in the air,” he said.

“If you don’t win any of those contests, it’s going to be a long day in the office, which it was, there wasn’t too many positives.”

In other words, the Wallabies got flogged all over the park.

It’s only the first game so Jones deserves to get cut some slack, but the warning bells are ringing loud because he has been talking a big game about how he’s going to turn the underperforming Wallabies into World Cup winners later this year.

His coaching record in World Cups is impressive so he may yet pull a rabbit out of a hat, but if first impressions are any guide, that’s already looking and sounding like gibberish because the cattle he has at his disposal just don‘t look up to it.

Eddie Jones looks on following his side’s loss to South Africa. Picture: Getty Images

The Wallabies were embarrassed by a weakened Springboks team that no-one should try and sugar-coat.

The South African journo Jones sprayed didn‘t actually say it was a B team but everyone knows this was not the best of the Boks because they were sent to New Zealand early to prepare for their match against the All Blacks.

That sobering reality only makes the scale and manner of the defeat even harder to swallow because if we’re fair dinkum, the lopsided scoreline actually flattered the Wallabies and it’s a minor miracle the South Africans didn’t rack up a half-century.

The Wallabies scored the first and last tries, through Marika Koroibete and Carter Gordon, two players who did show up, but were outgunned the rest of the match

Not only did they quickly run out of gas in the high-altitude of Pretoria, but they ran out of ideas far too soon and repeatedly came off second best in the all-important physical contests.

What happened against South Africa was an embarrassment to the gold jersey and can’t be repeated.

Not only did the Wallabies fail to fire in attack, at least until Tate McDermott and Gordon came on in the second half, but they couldn’t even retain possession because they kept dropping the ball, or kicking possession away for no reason.

The Wallabies were under pressure throughout the clash. Picture: Getty Images

Worse still, they missed far too many straightforward tackles and lacked discipline, conceding two penalty tries and having two players sent to the sin bin.

Jones will have learnt a lot about his players from the defeat but it’s now on him to make changes because one of the biggest complaints about his ineffective predecessor Dave Rennie was that he wouldn’t make the tough calls at the selection table.

Even before the mismatch, Jones’ choices against the Springboks left plenty of long-suffering Wallabies’ fans wondering what he was thinking.

Now, he needs to send a clear message that everyone has to lift their game because the Wallabies are never going to turn things around until someone starts telling the players like it is.

Wholesale changes need to be made before next weekend’s clash against Argentina in Sydney because nothing wakes players up from a slumber than being dropped.

When Jones took a cattle prod to a pre-season camp, it was a cute gimmick that got him plenty of cheap headlines, but that won’t get the job done.

Every player in the side needs to be put on notice that they are not guaranteed selection at the World Cup so there’s no chance of complacency.

The harsh reality is there is not a single player in the current line-up who would have made the starting XV that Jones picked for the 2003 World Cup final loss to England.

If Jones wants this team to go one step further, he needs to find a way to get his players to respond on the field like he does off it.

Originally published as The Wallabies’ performance against South Africa was an embarrassment and can’t be repeated, writes Julian Linden