Wallabies coach Eddie Jones issues apology after humiliating World Cup loss to Fiji

Eddie Jones has talked a big story ever since taking over the Wallabies but he’s been forced into making a grovelling apology to Australian rugby fans following their humiliating loss to Fiji.

Eddie Jones looks on after Australia’s defeat to Fiji at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, France. Picture: Getty Images

For once, even Eddie Jones’ detractors will agree with him — because he says he has to own up and accept full responsibility for the Wallabies’ humiliating loss to Fiji at the Rugby World Cup.

Jones has been talking a big story ever since he was reappointed as Wallabies coach but he’s been forced into making a grovelling apology to Australian rugby fans everywhere after overseeing one of the most insipid performances by any team wearing the gold jersey.

“We’re doing our absolute best and I apologise,” Jones said.

“It’s my fault. I take full responsibility for it.

“They should be throwing baguettes, croissants at me. I deserve whatever I get.

“It definitely hurts me personally. I’m 100 per cent responsible for it.

“I’ve gone down the line of picking a young team and I want this young team to be a good team at the moment.

“We had a bad day today, which can happen. And we’ve got to be better next week. So that’s my responsibility.”

Eddie Jones has apologised after the Wallabies were shocked by Fiji at the Rugby World Cup. Picture: Getty Images

Despite admitting he stuffed up against Fiji, Jones insisted he was standing by his decision to gut the team just before the World Cup and bring in a new generation of younger players.

It was always a risky strategy but the 63-year-old maintains it was the right thing to do.

“I made a decision to go for a young team, and if that’s the wrong decision then I’ll be held accountable for that,” he said.

“But I think Australian rugby needs to move on to a younger team and I’m prepared to experience some pain to go through to leave Australia with a team that is capable of doing really well at a World Cup.

“It’s not to say we can’t do that, we’ve had a bit of a setback today, but that’s all part of being at a World Cup.

“I do remember South Africa lost a game and won the World Cup, so funnier things have happened.”

No one who supports the Wallabies is laughing right now.

While Fiji were celebrating their first win over Wallabies since 1954, the same year Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile and Robert Menzies was Australian Prime Minister, the loss marked a new low in Australian rugby history.

Jones was left wondering where it all went wrong but the answers were right in front of him in the match statistics.

The Wallabies conceded 18 penalties. They missed 23 tackles. They turned the ball over 11 times. They kicked the ball away a staggering 29 times.

“When you lose, you always get criticised for kicking, that’s the baseline,” Jones said.

The Wallabies’ loss to Fiji marked a new low in Australian rugby history. Picture: Getty Images

“And when you win, the kicking’s been fantastic.

“Our kicking ... just wasn’t accurate enough. We allowed them out with our kicks instead of putting them under pressure.

“So I don’t have a problem with the number of kicks, our execution just wasn’t good enough today and sometimes that can come from the physical pressure that’s around the ruck.”

Worst of all, the Wallabies lacked composure when they needed cool heads.

It was a match they still could have won but they repeatedly failed to take their chances.

“We’re obviously disappointed. We started the game very uncharacteristically, not like us,” Jones said.

“We’ve been really sharp at the start of games and played with a fair bit of pace and precision and today was sloppy.

“Now, whether that was the physicality of Fiji and then from that, we had times in the game where we got on the front foot but we struggled to get on the front foot.

“Full congratulations to Fiji. They played really well and it was a deserved victory for them. I’m really pleased for them as a team and we’ve got some work to do.”

Had the Wallabies won, they would have all but been assured of a place in the quarter-finals.

Now they have to win their two remaining pool games against Wales and Portugal to have any chance of progressing, with bonus points looming as a possible deciding factor.

But already the problems are mounting. The Wallabies will be without their injured captain Will Skelton — who turned up to the match with his left leg in a moon boot — and tighthead prop Taniela Tupou.

Will Skelton will be missing for the crucial clash with Wales. Picture: Getty Images

The Wallabies had been giving little away about the seriousness of their injuries but Jones came clean and admitted neither man would be available for the next match so it was up to the other players to respond.

“We’ve got Wales next week. The great thing about the World Cup tournament, it’s not the end of the road, we’ve got Wales next week so we need to kick some stones tonight, work out where we can improve quickly and then get on with the game against Wales,” Jones said.

“I’ve got no doubt we’ll get a response. I was really pleased with the character our young team showed and when Fiji is on the front foot in a fairly hostile environment, it would have been easy for our team to go away but they didn’t.

“We can’t blame the loss on Skelton not being there. We’ve got to be good enough to be able to cope with that.

“And the penalties, when you’re not on the front foot, it’s quite easy to give away penalties. So I’m not worried about our discipline, I’m worried about not getting on the front foot. Any game of rugby, you’ve got to get on the front foot.

“If you can’t get on the front foot, then you’re battling it. It was always going to be a tough day in terms of the officiating of the game. We knew that. I expected that, but we weren’t good enough to cope with it.”

Originally published as Wallabies coach Eddie Jones issues apology after humiliating World Cup loss to Fiji