‘We are alive’: How Wallabies can still make quarter finals at 2023 Rugby World Cup

It’s been a World Cup of woe for the Wallabies but under-fire coach Eddie Jones hasn’t given up hope his side can pull off a miracle and reach the quarter finals.

Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones. Picture: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Ever the optimist, Eddie Jones isn’t giving up hope the Wallabies can still reach the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals but knows this is one time he’s not calling the shots.

The problem is Australia’s destiny is out of their own hands after they lost two of their pool matches in France, leaving the Wallabies relying on other results.

To go through to the knockout stage, the Wallabies need Portugal to beat Fiji in next week’s final round of group matches.

It’s a long shot but not completely out of the question and Jones cheekily suggested his best shot could be if Australia’s Fijian players helped the Pacific Islanders relax too much before the game.

“I’ll have to make something up as I have no idea at this stage,” he said.

“Maybe take some kava to Fiji, give Marika (Koroibete) and Suli (Vunivalu) my credit card and get them to go to the Fiji camp with some kava, maybe that might work.”

With the Wallabies having a bye next weekend, Jones said the Wallabies would be given three days off to recharge their batteries but would return to training as normal, preparing for the possibility of a quarter-final.

Eddie Jones’ Wallabies are still alive in the World Cup. Picture: AFP

While the team’s chances rely on Fiji losing to Portugal, the Wallabies did at least hold up their end of the bargain by beating Portugal 34-14 on Monday morning with a bonus point.

“We only had one objective this week and that was to be alive and we are still alive,” Jones said.

“We don’t have to worry about whether it’s a chance or not. We have a program in place where we will have three days off regardless, then we will have three days of good training and we’ll look to get better.

“We want to finish next week better than we are now. That’s the aim. If we get an opportunity on the field, fantastic.”

Jones would not be drawn on his own future with the Wallabies after saying he accepted full responsibility for the plight the team is in.

While the Wallabies did beat both Georgia and Portugal, they lost to both Fiji and Wales, threatening their perfect record of reaching the sudden-death rounds in each of the nine previous World Cups played.

But he said he was proud of the way his team responded against Portugal, even though fate is out of their own hands.

Eddie Jones is upbeat despite the Wallabies’ poor World Cup. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“I am pleased for the players. They played with a lot of toughness, a lot of character. At times we were clinical and at times we weren’t, which is where we need to improve. But I am really pleased for the players. That sums up my mood,” he said.

“The disappointment is we haven’t controlled our own destiny. In a pool stage you want to control your own destiny and we haven’t done that.

“I take full responsibility for that. What am I pleased with? When I look at the squad and I look at the number of players that have improved individually then I am really pleased. A lot of these players have really bright futures, as this team does.

“If we keep sticking at it, keep working hard, keep focusing on what’s important then we will be a good team and won’t have this sombreness that’s around Australian rugby at the moment.

“We have done all we can. We can’t control the result so I am not going to spend too much time worrying about the result.

“We have had our go at the World Cup. We are sitting where we are. We accept our position and if it happens and we get another chance so be it, but if doesn’t we have only got to look at ourselves.”

Originally published as ‘We are alive’: How Wallabies can still make quarter finals at 2023 Rugby World Cup