Wallabies vow to reward long-suffering fans at Rugby World Cup
After five-straight losses since taking over Eddie Jones has failed to silence the doubters but the Wallabies are convinced the team is heading in the right direction as the World Cup kicks off.
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The Wallabies have arrived in Paris for the first match at the Rugby World Cup — vowing to finally reward their long-suffering fans for their patience during years of false dawns.
Thousands of Australian fans have already touched down at Charles de Gaulle Airport and thousands more are still on their way as excitement builds in the French capital for the opening weekend.
The seven-week tournament kicks off in the early hours of Saturday morning (Australian time) when the host nation takes on New Zealand at the Stade de France before the Wallabies open their campaign against Georgia at the same venue almost 24 hours later.
Favourites to win their pool and advance to the knockout stages, the Wallabies have left their base camp at St Etienne in central France, travelling to Paris by high-speed train to finish off their preparations.
The Wallabies will announce their team to play Georgia later on Thursday, before having a training run at the national stadium.
It’s been a tough few years for the Wallabies, with Dave Rennie sacked as head coach at the end of last year and replaced by Eddie Jones.
After five-straight losses since taking over, Jones has failed to silence the doubters but veteran halfback Nic White said everyone in the squad was convinced the team was heading in the right direction and were ready to show their supporters the trip to Europe wasn’t a waste of money.
“It’s an enormous sacrifice for fans to come over, spending a lot of their hard-earned to come all the way to France and support us and we acknowledge that,” White said.
“In the pre-game, we’ll be talking about that for sure because they’re the people there we’re playing for and a lot of people back home.
“But once that bus arrives at that stadium and we’re walking up the tunnel, it’s tunnel vision on what your job is and doing it.”
The Wallabies will start as heavy favourites to beat Georgia, who play in Europe’s second tier competition, but White said the players would still be jittery because of the enormity of the occasion.
“Everyone’s going to be nervous,” White said.
“There’ll be some young guys in our group that are nervous, old blokes in our group that are nervous, even staff members that are nervous.
“But also, every team is bloody nervous because we’re at the start line.
“Just understanding that’s okay, that everybody is feeling the same before a World Cup.
“It’s okay to feel that way. Nerves are a good thing, it means you care and just making sure that when they come on, embrace them.”
At 33, White is one of the oldest players in the Australian squad, but one of the youngest at heart.
The starting halfback under Rennie, he’s been relegated to the bench under Jones, who has opted for the young livewire Tate McDermott, but White says he’s happy to play any role he’s asked.
“I’ve spoken about that with Eddie and he’s made it very clear the best man will do the job and Tate’s been doing a great job at the moment,” White said.
“I feel like I’ve been doing a really good job of supporting him, and that’s my job as well. I’m under no illusion of where I’m at with my career and my age and my experience. There’s a future and young group and any part that I can play in helping that I want to.
“That might be starting, that might be on the bench, that might be out of the 23. I want to do whatever role that is, whatever job that is to the absolute best of my ability.”
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