Eddie Jones’ arrival was ‘too late’ as Australia doomed to fail at the Rugby World Cup

Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLennan has defended Eddie Jones after the Wallabies’ embarrassing Rugby World Cup defeat on Sunday.

The team is on the brink of elimination from the global tournament after they succumbed to Wales in Lyon at the weekend.

That 40-6 reversal was their second of the pool stage, having also gone down to Fiji 22-15 seven days earlier.

The Pacific Islanders now just need five points from their final two games against Georgia and Portugal to make sure of their passage into the quarter-finals.

A low point

It would result in Australia’s first-ever exit at this stage of a global tournament, marking a low point for the sport in the country.

Critics have already laid into Jones, who took over from Dave Rennie in January, with many stating that he should leave his position as head coach.

The 63-year-old retains the support of the RA hierarchy, however, with McLennan insisting that Rennie would not have necessarily done any better.

“The game has really gone backwards since the 2015 final of the Rugby World Cup. We were kicked out in the quarter-finals in 2019, quite convincingly, by England, and we lost a pool match to Wales. So, the data would suggest the game has been going backwards for some time,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The reason we made the change at the beginning of the year was we knew it was a real possibility [under the old regime] that this could happen, so perhaps this is a case of too little, too late.

“The team had a failed Spring Tour, lost to Italy and was at 36 per cent. So, to do nothing and hope for the best didn’t feel like the right thing to do. Our issues are far more systemic.

“Eddie Jones has delivered three different countries to a Rugby World Cup final, and so I think it is too simplistic to blame one person.

“Eddie has the respect of [former All Blacks coach] Steve Hansen and other legendary coaches from around the world. I have been saying for three years the game needs constitutional and structural reform, and now is the time to do it.”

Japan job

On the day of the Wales game, reports surfaced in the Herald that Jones held a job interview over Zoom with Japanese officials.

That was alleged with a view to taking over the Brave Blossoms following the end of the 2023 World Cup.

It was denied by both Jones and RA chief executive Phil Waugh, and McLennan reiterated their stance.

“I haven’t spoken to Eddie directly about it. But Waughy did, and we are taking him on his word, and he said there is nothing in it,” he said,

“I would be surprised and disappointed if he were to go, but, ultimately, he has to want to be in Australia. Whilst the recriminations have started, he is regarded as one of the best coaches in the world, an Australian and this has been validated by a number of well-informed ex-Wallabies and other great coaches.”

Criticism of the governing body

McLennan and Rugby Australia have also come under fire for their role in the Wallabies’ World Cup disaster.

The chairman was asked by the Herald about his future, and he responded: “I am fully accountable for all the decisions that I have made, and I am conscious that the reforms that are needed with rugby need to get pushed through.

“If I am part of the solution, or not, I will live with that. I jumped into rugby’s implosion when very few wanted to, in the middle of 2020. I have donated my RA salary back to women’s and Indigenous rugby and have done it all for the right reasons.

“I feel I am making calls that are well intended and for the good of the game, including winning the 2027 and 2029 Rugby World Cups for Australia, which will be transformative.”

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