Rugby news: Eddie Jones says Australia can win World Cup, issues All Blacks warning
Eddie Jones has declared the Wallabies are capable of winning this year’s World Cup and issued a warning to Australia’s greatest rival.
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Eddie Jones has put the All Blacks and the world on notice: “We’re coming for you”.
The new Wallabies coach was unflinching in his mission to win back the Bledisloe Cup and World Cup this year, despite having just months to prepare a group of players he’s never worked with before.
“Our plan is to win the World Cup,” Jones said.
“If we win the World Cup it changes things for rugby in Australia. So our target is to win the World Cup then we'll worry about what happens after that.
“To win the World Cup, we’re going to take this talented group of players, who are going to have to work together to make a team that has a competitive edge over the rest of the world.”
Holding his first official press conference in Australia since taking the job from Dave Rennie a fortnight ago, Jones returned to his old school at Matraville Sports High, flanked by old classmates, the legendary Ella brothers Mark, Glen and Gary.
Before the World Cup campaign, Jones’ Wallabies will play the All Blacks twice, on July 29 in Melbourne and August 5 in Dunedin, to win back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2001.
“I think they’re in a pretty good spot, but we’re coming after them,” Jones said.
“We’re going to be chasing them down the street, and that’s a good thing.
“We want that rivalry to be tough and I think New Zealand want it as well, so we’ll make sure we’re chasing them.”
Despite the two decades of failure against their trans-Tasman rivals, and not having won the World Cup since 1999, Jones says the current group will not be crippled by mental anxiety over the repeated near misses.
“Just look at the Springboks in 2018; I think 2016, 17 and 18, the Springboks had a winning record of under 30 per cent,” Jones said.
“Rassie Erasmus comes in, sets alight TikTok and the team changes. I don’t know whether TikTok changed them or Rassie change them or Rassie on TikTok changed them.
“It changed the team and they immediately went from a team that was probably the weakest of the Rugby Championship to World Cup champions.
“Mental scarring is a not a factor in sport. It’s the ability of a player to want to be at their best that’s the most important thing. All we want is players that want to be at their best and if they want to be at their best, then any previous experience they’ll cope with
“I’m not worried about the history of that. I’m worried about the team gelling, getting together with the culture we want, being tough on each other and the opposition and those close losses will turn into close wins.”
Jones said world No.6 ranked Australia has the talent to win the World Cup later this year in France.
“What I do know is that our players don't lack talent,” Jones said.
“If you did a World XV today on talent you‘d have a fair few Australian players in there.
“You've just got to look potentially at the backline Australia could have, potentially.
“And you're thinking ’yeah, is there a better backline in the world now?’
“But that doesn't again, you know, as I said that doesn’t win you Test matches.
“What wins you Test matches is whether you run hard to do that inside clean, whether you go back over your head, to chase a kick. And so I need to find the right balance.”
Jones added: “If you look at world rugby at the moment, there’s six teams not separated by a cigarette paper, they're so tight.
“And the team that learns the most over the next nine months will be the team that lifts the William Webb Ellis trophy in Stade de France on the 28th of October at about 11pm.
“And we‘re intending that to be us.
“And then from that kids will want to play rugby you know.
“You saw out there in the school, the kids, year seven kids, most of them played soccer.
“Because they watched the Socceroos and they were excited about the Matildas in the women's World Cup.
“And there was a small number of rugby. When we were at school here, when Gary and Mark and Glen were here, it would have been the opposite.
“All rugby kids and a few kids that played soccer. We need to create role models and we need to create heroes for the young kids.”