‘Hurt’ Wallabies star keen to ‘forget about’ Eddie Jones after World Cup disaster
Allan Alaalatoa of the Wallabies, ex-head coach Eddie Jones and James Slipper during a team photo at an Australian Wallabies training session at Brighton Grammar School in Melbourne
Wallabies and Brumbies prop Allan Alaalatoa has expressed surprise and disappointment at former Australia head coach Eddie Jones’ decision to return to Japan after a poor World Cup showing.
Jones was the Wallabies’ coach for several years through the early 2000s. He returned to the job in 2023 after a stint with England, replacing Dave Rennie in the build-up to the World Cup.
During this year’s Rugby World Cup, Jones was reportedly interviewed to potentially rejoin Japan and shortly after the tournament in France, where Australia failed to progress from the pool stages of the tournament for the first time in their history in the wake of defeats to Fiji and Wales, Jones resigned. A month later, Japan announced his reappointment.
“It just really hurts”
Alaalatoa, who skippered the Wallabies ahead of the tournament before an injury curtailed his involvement, did not believe the reports when they first surfaced.
“I was back home, obviously watching the World Cup and read the article that came out about him being in conversation with Japan,” Alaalatoa told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“But my first thought was, ‘Nah, that’s not true; maybe it’s rumours being spread’. But now that it’s confirmed, it just really hurts. To be honest, mate, it did hurt when the news was confirmed he was going to Japan. It was really disappointing to see.
“We knew he was here for five years, and he was here to make us better players and that he cared about the players.”
Selections
Jones’ decision to leave out the likes of Michael Hooper and Quade Cooper for the tournament was widely criticised. Alaalatoa believes that while the ex-Wallabies boss did have an eye on the future, with Australia hosting the 2027 tournament, he was picking a team that he thought go win the 2023 World Cup.
“The decisions Eddie was making this year, it may have been one eye on the future but he was also picking a team he thought could win the World Cup as well. And when you were part of that team and that squad, you believe him,” added Alaalatoa.
“You believe this man is going to be around with us for four or five years, and no matter what we go through, he is going to have our back. He’s going to be with us every step of the way and turn it all around.”
He added: “As a leadership group, it’s your job to believe in what the coach is saying and to then drive that among the group, even if there is a little bit of doubt about it. It is your job as a leader to bring everyone together and that takes a lot of energy.
“To see all this come out now, and see him sign with Japan, it just hurts. But now that it is done, it’s new so it hurts but the other side is you get that opportunity just to move on now. All that decision has been made, and he’s been in the media a lot, but now it is just forget about him now, let’s move on.”
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