Australia: ‘There’s a bit of angst’ ahead of first Wallabies camp under Eddie Jones

Dylan Coetzee
Australia: Ryan Lonergan kicks the ball for the Brumbies.

Scrum-half Ryan Lonergan admits there are nerves ahead of the first Wallabies camp under veteran head coach Eddie Jones.

Jones replaced Dave Rennie as head coach in January after only being dismissed by England at the end of last year.

Nerves

That means a big part of the Wallabies squad has not met the wily coach and there is a bit of “angst” in the air ahead of their camp on the Gold Coast this week.

“There’s a bit of angst, we don’t really know what to expect,” Lonergan told AAP.

“You can be as ready as you can, but we don’t really know what’s coming (during the camp).

“It is quite nerve wracking. You’ve got to try to get the right first impression there.”

Injury enforced changes

Jones has been forced to make some changes to his squad with several stars including Ned Hanigan, Len Ikitau, David Porecki, Blake Schoupp and Darcy Swain all out with concussion, whilst Pete Samu and the promising Langi Gleeson are missing through ankle and calf injuries respectively.

Richie Arnold, Tom Banks, Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley, Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi and Will Skelton are all overseas-based players who will link up to meetings virtually.

Lonergan is focused on continuing to perform and securing his spot in the squad.

“The pressure is always there. When you’re here you’ve got to perform, and if you don’t you won’t be here next time,” he said.

“We’ve done well to get here, but you’ve got to understand you can’t just be happy making it, especially just the first camp.

“We’ve got to continue to play well across the rest of the season to make sure I’m there at the end.

“So (it’s about) just trying to impress over the three days, and continue to impress throughout Super Rugby.”

Family affair

The scrum-half joins his brother Lachlan in the Wallabies set-up for the first time and is delighted to be playing with his “best mate”.

“It’s super special. I think I play in more teams with him than without him,” Ryan said.

“We’ve always gotten along really well. People thought that was weird when we were young, because a lot of brothers don’t really get along.

“We’ve been best mates our whole lives.”

READ MORE: Australia: Eddie Jones forced to make changes to his first Wallabies squad