Um-E-Aymen Babar
Sports Journalist
Australia coach Eddie Jones said he remains proud of his players despite their heavy defeat to Wales and admits his coaching has not been good enough; Wallabies face crashing out of Rugby World Cup at pool stage for first time
Last Updated: 24/09/23 11:37pm
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What next for Eddie Jones after Wales thrashed Australia at the Rugby World Cup?
What next for Eddie Jones after Wales thrashed Australia at the Rugby World Cup?
Australia coach Eddie Jones took full responsibility for his side’s 40-6 defeat against Wales on Sunday, with the Wallabies on the brink of exiting the Rugby World Cup.
Wales cruised to a 40-6 victory to qualify for the quarter-finals, leaving Australia stranded with the possibility of exiting the World Cup at the pool stage for the first time in their history.
“It all comes down to me, I take full responsibility for it,” Jones told ITV. My coaching hasn’t been good enough. I don’t need to worry about the future, I just need to worry about the Portugal game.
“I’ve got a contract but obviously at the end of the World Cup they’ll do a review of performance and mine will be reviewed and at the moment it isn’t good enough.
“I’ve got only the highest respect for our players. They’re a good bunch of young kids and they’re learning their trade and these sort of experiences are sometimes the making of a team.
“As difficult as it is to take now, sometimes you need to go through this to create the spirit and the thinking you need to be the team you want to become. Our players have been fantastic.”
Jones added: “Australia has always been a troughs-and-crests type situation and we’re going through a really bad period right now and we just have to fight our way out of it. The opportunity is there to do that.”
Last week, Fiji recorded a shock 22-15 victory against Australia and it left Jones admitting he may lose his job post-World Cup.
The Wallabies’ loss to Wales marked their seventh defeat in eight Tests this year.
Meanwhile, Wales have reached their fourth consecutive World Cup quarter-final under Warren Gatland as head coach and celebrated one of their best performances against Australia.
Gatland: Life is about what you deserve, and we deserved to win
Wales head coach Warren Gatland told ITV Sport…
“It was a pretty good performance. Their lines need to improve a little bit but that’s okay. Life is about what you deserve and we deserved to win and I’m pleased with their performance.
“We ended up scoring three tries and the message at the end was to go for the bonus point but you can’t be too greedy.
On Gareth Davies, Gatland said: “He’s a fantastic individual. He’s come back and shown how he can defend and what he can do in the game and we’re fortunate we’ve got two quality nines, one more experienced than the other. Tomos [Williams] came on and gave us some zip.
“We’re really fortunate and have worked really hard.”
North: It was a dominant performance and the boys are thrilled
Wales centre George North told ITV Sport…
“We’re getting closer to that performance that we know we can do. There’s still a bit to tidy up but three wins from three in the group stages, we’ve got one more big game to come, but the boys are ecstatic.
“Huge effort from the 23 and 33-man squad all week. After the Portugal game we kicked on again and the result today showed. It was a dominant performance and the boys are thrilled with it.
“It’s a huge effort from the start, we get what you put in and the boys have put in from minute one.
“After Fiji I was hard on us saying we need to tidy a lot up, and we have, but to do that to an Australia team is a good performance in our book.”
What’s next?
Australia face Portugal on Sunday October 1 in their Pool C game at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne, France (4.45pm kick-off BST).
Wales are next in action against Georgia on Saturday October 7 at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, France (2pm kick-off BST).