Rugby World Cup 2023: Jones takes responsibility for Wallabies’ awful tournament
Eddie Jones isn’t shying away from the Wallabies’ poor World Cup so far as he continues to deny any links to a possible return to Japan.
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Eddie Jones says he’s not looking to desert the sinking ship after admitting he is to blame for the Wallabies’ shocking performance at the Rugby World Cup.
In another prickly press conference ahead of the Wallabies’ last World Cup pool match against Portugal, Jones fired back at reporters questioning him about his commitment to Australian rugby.
The 63-year-old said he accepted full responsibility for the team’s terrible results in France but had no intentions of throwing in the towel and walking away just because things weren’t going well.
But he did concede the decision on whether he stays as Wallabies head coach could be out of his hands if Rugby Australia doesn‘t think he’s the right man to take the team forward.
“If there needs to be a fall guy for the World Cup, then it‘s obviously me,” Jones said.
“But when you become a head coach of a team, you take on that responsibility.
“The playing group has been absolutely fantastic. I couldn‘t ask any more for them so if there needs to be someone responsible for the performances, it’s me.
“I think that‘s pretty self-explanatory in a way.”
Jones has been linked with a possible return to Japan after the World Cup but has repeatedly denied the reports.
Rugby Australia’s bosses say they believe him.
But the claims keep resurfacing. Asked again whether there was any truth to the reports, Jones snapped back at reporters, saying: “I‘m 100% committed to the job. And I’ve said that previously.”
Jones was also reluctant to weigh into the deeper problems that the code in Australia faces, which include the decline in playing standards and waning interest in Super rugby, as well as the talent drain to rugby league and concerns about development programs and pathways.
Jones has already stated he thinks Australian rugby needs a complete overhaul - a view shared by the board of directors - and the reason he made wholesale changes to the squad before the World Cup.
The gamble backfired and with Rugby Australia already planning a full review into everything that went wrong in France, Jones said it would be improper to comment before that process has started.
“Those sorts of issues should be dealt with by Rugby Australia,” Jones said.
“We‘re obviously talking about it all the time. When I first came into the job we were talking about and we’re still talking about it now.
“But it‘s not for me to talk about those issues.
“I don‘t want anyone to think that we’re making excuses for the performance of the team. As I said, I take full responsibility for the performance of the team and I stand by that.”
For now, Rugby Australia is standing by Jones, who was only appointed at the start of 2023 after Dave Rennie was sacked following three years of poor results.
Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has been heavily criticised for switching head coaches so close to the World Cup, but says it was the right call even though the results were disappointing.
Jones also stands by his tough-love decisions, saying the hard lessons from this tournament could pay off big when Australia hosts the next World Cup in 2027.
“This is the best group of players to represent Australia at this World Cup,” Jones said.
“The results haven‘t been great, I understand that, but they’re a good young bunch of players and I think we’ve got the best players in each position here.
“We‘ve trained really well, but we’re not getting the results.
“Sometimes the scoreboard is the last thing to change and I know that‘s hard to take and I know now it’s hard to understand, but sometimes that’s just the case.
“I‘m only focusing on the Portuguese game. I can’t change Super Rugby. I can’t change the amount of high pressure games that players play.
“We defer to other issues that are definitely there but the only thing we can control is what we do here.”
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Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2023: Jones takes responsibility for Wallabies’ awful tournament