Eddie Jones on how Hamish McLennan is returning rugby to its golden years, Will Skelton’s World Cup impact and why he won’t discuss NRL recruits
Eddie Jones on RA chair Hamish McLennan – the first leader to ‘take a stand’ for the game since John O’Neill – as well as Will Skelton and why he doesn’t want to discuss NRL recruits.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says Rugby Australia’s chair Hamish McLennan is the first leader to “take a stand” for the game since the golden tenure of John O’Neill.
O’Neill in his first stint at chair in the early 2000s oversaw a blockbuster home World Cup, a $40m windfall and disrupted the football landscape by poaching NRL stars to the 15-man code.
Jones said the game was now in a far better place and credited McLennan, who recently oversaw the sensational poaching of NRL teen star Joseph Suaalii from the Sydney Roosters, for pushing rugby back into the public consciousness.
“I think we’re immeasurably better off than where we were,” Jones said. “I think a lot of credit has got to go to Hamish.
“He’s the first guy since John O’Neill that’s made a stand. He’s put himself out there.
“He gets a lot of criticism but he’s helping change the perception of Australian rugby. We’re back in there. We’re in the market. We’re competing.”
After the poaching of Suaalii, overseen by McLennan, attention has turned to the potential recruitment of Broncos star Payne Haas.
When asked about Haas, Jones told The Weekend Australian he was not at all interested in talking about signing rugby league players because his sole focus is “winning the World Cup” in France later this year.
“I’ve got one focus and that’s the World Cup,” Jones said. “That’s the only thing I am worried about. If he was available for the World Cup, I’d be able to tell you something.
“But because he’s not available for the World Cup I am not interested in speaking about it.
“I don’t even read it. I’m not interested. I don’t care. Even Suaalii to a large degree, he might not even be my player, he might be someone’s else’s player.
“All you’ve got to do is ride the horse you are on now.”
Jones famously recruited a trio of NRL stars – Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri – to the Wallabies ranks ahead of the 2003 World Cup, with the trio all featuring in the loss to England in the final.
One player Jones believes can make an impact at the World Cup is hulking second-rower and former Waratah Will Skelton.
Jones revealed he met with the 30-year-old in France recently and believes the second rower can become a force for the Wallabies – but he’ll need to improve his fitness.
He stands 2.03m tall and weighs about 140kg. Jones said Skelton, who was up in the middle of the night to Zoom in for a Wallabies team meeting earlier this month, will be a force in France for Australia if he can improve in the right areas.
“He’s a player that’s made his mark overseas, and some players find their best rugby overseas,” Jones said.
“That’s the reality of it, he’s done that, he’s a player that La Rochelle have built a club around.
“Yeah. Yeah. He’s a massive part of their success. And I went and saw him a couple of weeks ago and he’s got a burning desire to be part of a winning World Cup side for Australia.
“So we’ve got to get him fit. Playing European rugby doesn’t equip you for the World Cup, but there’s some good things he’s done.
“So if we can get him fit, which we are working on with him now, there’s no reason why he can’t come back and be a really big part of a successful World Cup campaign.”
Skelton will play in the Champions Cup semi-final this weekend, having played in three of the past four Champions Cup finals, and is one of only six players to win the tournament with two different clubs.
In an interview this week Skelton said he believed Jones had “brought some life back” to Australian rugby since rejoining the Wallabies in January as head coach.
“When you look at the media, he’s definitely brought some life back into Aussie rugby,” Skelton said of Jones’s impact in an interview with The Guardian.
“As a player it’s refreshing to have a new coach come in and bring in his style, his way of playing, which the boys have to buy into.”
While on the field Jones hopes to steer the Wallabies back to their winning ways, off it, the tide is turning.
The code recorded a $27.1m deficit just two years ago.
This week Rugby Australia announced an $8.2m profit for 2022.
It’s the first time in the black since 2018.
Upon the release of the results, McLennan said the financial turnaround was monumental for many reasons.
“The last two years have been a wild ride for us – and with the removal of Covid restrictions, we were able to return to a full year of rugby, and restore some normality in the business,” McLennan said.
“To turn this thing around in such a short time is a great testament to Andy (Marinos, CEO) and the team at Rugby Australia, as well as the resilience of our game – and with the promise of a Lions Tour in two years, as well as home Rugby World Cups in 2027 and 2029, rugby is very much on the rise again.”
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