Rugby World Cup 2023: Wallabies players and coaching staff endorse Eddie Jones despite disastrous results
The Wallabies have sunk to an historic low and are staring at a World Cup exit at the pool stage, so why are players and coaching staff right behind embattled coach Eddie Jones?
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If Eddie Jones is worried about getting the sack, he’s not showing it.
Under the blowtorch – on and off the field – Jones is going about his job, just as he always does.
As far as the Australian players and his assistant coaches are concerned, it has been business as usual for Jones as the Wallabies after the shattering World Cup loss to Wales last weekend.
“We‘ve all been affected by it and we all show it differently but Eddie has been outstanding,” lineout coach Dan Palmer said.
“We can‘t question his commitment to this group. He works longer hours than anybody and puts more into this than anybody.
“I‘m sure he’s feeling it but his ability to bounce back from that and get real clarity on what has to happen next and feed that on to the players has been outstanding.”
Palmer also addressed the elephant in the room about the reports Jones was formally interviewed for the Japan coaching job just weeks before the World Cup started.
Jones has refuted the claims, saying he is wholly committed to coaching Australia, and Palmer said all the assistant coaches and players accepted his version without question.
“Of course I take him for his word,” Palmer said. “And at the moment that‘s speculation.
“He‘s a professional coach and if he’s had a conversation with somebody else that’s his business, it hasn’t affected us at all.
“In terms of his behaviour around the group, in terms of his commitment to this team, we can‘t question that.”
Fullback Andrew Kellaway said none of the players had given a moment’s thought to the reports that Jones was considering a switch to Japan, saying the entire squad’s focus was on this weekend’s pool match against Portugal
“Eddie has been great and the coaching staff fantastic, reminding us that we have another game to go here,” Kellaway said.
“A big pat on the back from them because they are probably hurting as much, if not more, than the rest of us. I can’t applaud them enough.
“We‘re the first people to stick our hand up and say it was embarrassing but no-one tried to do that.
“For us, it‘s about making sure we understand why that occurred and then this week against Portugal is going to be a tough game so making sure we get that right so we can take away five points and keep ourselves alive as long as possible.”
Utility back Ben Donaldson said the rapport between Jones and the players remained excellent.
“We’ve stayed tight as group the whole time, the coaches and the players,” Donaldson said.
“From my personal perspective, I’ve really enjoyed it, as much as the results haven’t gone our way. I’ve learnt a lot from the coaches.”
Originally published as Rugby World Cup 2023: Wallabies players and coaching staff endorse Eddie Jones despite disastrous results