There is light at the end of the tunnel, but Jones needs to be off at the next stop

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Where to from here for Australian rugby, after Sunday night’s bloody gutting in Lyon? Since the Wallabies put Wales in on a green pitch only to find their opponents knocked up a score of 40 before not even giving Australia a chance to bat, the recriminations have been as bitter and battering as they’ve been savage and shattering.

The fact that the world champions of 1991 and 1999 didn’t even make it out of the pool stage at the Rugby World Cup has unleashed the furies as never before. It is indeed not acceptable, even less so when it was our blokes’ seventh loss in eight matches this year – all under the guidance of a million-dollar-plus per year coach who had said from the beginning we could even win the whole thing, and everyone who said otherwise should get nicked until further notice.

Mass sackings have been called for – all while those Wallabies fans who were heading for the exits in Lyon with ten minutes to go appear to have been in the vanguard of a whole swathe of rugby followers who have announced they are done. They just can’t take any more.

Things are crook in Tallarook, black on the track winding back, and Armageddon might be just up ahead.

How do we rebuild to firstly, survive; secondly, start winning enough to regain some credibility in world rugby; thirdly build up to go well enough against the touring British and Irish Lions in the three-Test series (which kicks off in less than two years) that it’s not a wipeout; and fourthly WIN the 2027 World Cup which we, in Australia, are hosting? You heard me – but we’ll get to that.

But survival is a real issue, by the way. The Wallabies cannot play like they have done this year and expect TV networks, sponsors and fans to keep writing cheques for long. This has to be turned around, and quickly. At least the rebuilders will be starting with some talented if demoralised players, and a rugby community that passionately and demonstrably – such has been the outcry in the past 24 hours – wants them to come back from this. Let’s get to it.

Eddie Jones has to depart the Wallabies – one way or another – before change can come.Credit: Getty

The first and most urgent thing, one way or another, is for Australian rugby to move on from Eddie Jones. We thought he was part of the solution, but he has only made the problem worse. Seven losses out of eight Tests under his command speaks for itself, as does the failure to get at least to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in history. The Herald’s Tom Decent broke the story that just before the World Cup, Eddie – still in the first year of a five-year contract – was being interviewed to take over the Japanese team. It is outrageous, even if not a breach of contract. But it totally undercuts his authority with the team from here. You can’t be calling for their commitment to the jersey, while also being seen to be calling for an air ticket to Tokyo for yourself.

And yes, while Eddie has reportedly denied it to Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, you only had to see the careful language Eddie used in the press conference after the Wales game – “I don’t know what you’re talking about, mate,” “I am committed to Australian rugby” – to surmise that he knew exactly what we were talking about, and that whatever his commitment now, his commitment for the future is in doubt.

This is not to say Eddie Jones is a bad coach. He is an extraordinary coach, with a record across 20 years that is absolutely second to none. But it is equally undeniable that this year he has taken what was a talented if underperforming team under Dave Rennie, and turned them into a basket case. Just why they have performed so badly, under a coach as accomplished as him, is not clear.

What is clear is that he has to go. If he gets the Japanese gig, the problem is solved.

If he doesn’t, there will have to be a negotiated settlement – ideally without having to pay him out for the long-term contract he was absurdly put on in the first place.

Who takes over from him, then?

I would beg Robbie Deans to come back. He is accomplished, understands Australian rugby, and is everything that Eddie is not: cool-headed, inclined to stability in team selections, and extremely well-liked by everyone in the media. He is currently coaching in Japan, so if they got Eddie and we got Robbie there would be a certain symmetry to it.

Robbie Deans coached the Wallabies between 2008 and 2013 – and could make for a handy Eddie Jones swap.Credit: Getty

As to rebuilding the team, we need one captain. Not co-captains. Not five captains in six matches. One captain. The current captain of the World Cup squad, Will Skelton, is currently injured and is not a long-term option, as he plays the bulk of his rugby for La Rochelle in France.

As one who has written biographies of two World Cup-winning Wallabies captains in Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales, I fancy I know the type that works, and I would pick either halfback Tate McDermott or prop Angus Bell. McDermott’s yappy and good with the press. Bell is less yappy, but in the thick of everything, all the time. Both are respected by all the players.

Sitting in the stands right beside the Wallabies bench on Sunday night, I watched them all closely as they came off. McDermott, Bell, Andrew Kellaway and James Slipper were all notably inconsolable at game’s end – as they should be. The Wallabies need a long-term leader that the team can be built around, someone who cannot think straight after a loss – just like Farr-Jones, who had a desire to win that was borderline unbalanced. Whoever it is, has to have the authority that can only come from being captain for years on end, not changed all the time; someone who can lay down the law to the other players, hold them accountable and change tactics when things aren’t working, as Eales was particularly masterful at executing.

In the loss to Fiji, ground audio revealed an all but silent Wallaby team behind the try line, while our Pacific island cousins never stopped talking to each other.

Jordan Petaia, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Andrew Kellaway are enough to give Wallabies fans at least some hope for the future.Credit: Getty

There are talented players in this team that the future can be built around. Beyond the aforementioned, I cite particularly Mark Nawaqanitawase, Jordan Petaia, Marika Koroibete, Rob Valetini, Tom Hooper and – yes – Carter Gordon, who despite his brief cameo against Wales, showed glimpses of genius. A great team can be formed from the ashes of this disaster. England, too, didn’t make it out of the group stage in 2015, only to make it to the final in 2019, so it can be done.

As to systemic changes, yes, by all means. But to beat my long-time drum once more, this must start with putting more resources to the grassroots rather than just dropping millions on leaguies.

As to the call for the chair and board of Rugby Australia to all resign, I get the angst. The charge is that rugby in Australia is a game of professionals run by rank amateurs – and most of the accusations focus on the Eddie disaster.

But I don’t go with it. For starters, they weren’t the only ones who thought Eddie was the solution. As discussed, this little black duck was another, and I was one of many. There were very few who predicted this imbroglio, but what we need now more than ever – Eddie aside – is stability to rebuild. Precisely the same call for resignations has been made about six times in the last two decades, after each new disaster. No iteration has done better than the last. This iteration at least locked down a solid TV contract, which brought us back from the brink last time. We now need the results to keep it in place.

Onwards. You take Eddie to the airport, I’ll look out for the tackle bags, while Thelma can call the sponsors to settle them down. Phil, you run out after the streaming fans, and ask them to come back. It’s not over yet. We have a lot of work to do.

Watch all the action from Rugby World Cup 2023 on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Every match streaming ad-free, live and in 4K UHD with replays, mini matches and highlights available on demand.

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