Former Wallabies backrower Stephen Hoiles has slammed criticism of coach Eddie Jones as “disgusting” while arguing Australian rugby’s issues are systemic and a long-term fix.
Hopes that Jones would provide an immediate sugar hit to the Wallabies have gone up in smoke as Saturday’s 38-7 loss to the All Blacks in Melbourne ensured Australia’s Bledisloe Cup drought would stretch into a 21st year.
Jones, 0-3 in his second coming at the helm, will get another chance to break his 2023 Test duck against New Zealand in Dunedin on Saturday.
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The Wallabies will then have just one more warm-up game – against France in Paris on August 28 (AEST) – before their Rugby World Cup opener against Georgia at Stade de France on September 10 (AEST).
Jones, sacked by England last year, replaced Dave Rennie as Wallabies coach in dramatic fashion in January, signing a deal through to the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
“Don’t change your coaches. You’ve done that enough,” Randwick coach Hoiles, who played under Jones, pleaded on the latest edition of Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven.
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‘Let down Eddie, let down Australia’
“And now we’ve realised that ain’t the problem. The system is the problem.
“We’ve had a lot of quality coaches in the last 10 years and they’ve all walked out going ‘something’s wrong here.’ So that is not the solution and it’s the first person you want to criticise. And the negativity around that stuff, in particular from ex-players and ex-coaches, is disgusting. Like, what, they thought Australian rugby was sitting No.1 in the world at the start of the year? And all of a sudden, we’ve lost to the All Blacks?
“We’re actually supposed to lose to the All Blacks based on how the rankings system works. The problem is the professional level below Test footy. That’s what you’ve got to fix. Club footy, junior footy, sevens, women’s, every other aspect in the game is thriving, school footy, it’s all going really well. It’s just that professional level below the Wallabies.”
NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Stephen Hoiles and Justin Harrison unpack a heavy Bledisloe Cup defeat and search for hope ahead of the return clash in Dunedin
Former Wallabies coach John Connolly has been the most notable Jones critic of late, blasting him as a “charlatan” who “talks a great game but plays a terrible one.”
‘Knuckles’ Connolly replaced Jones as Australia coach in 2006 and claims he found the players “were like beaten down sheepdogs.”
Jones has led teams to World Cup finals in 2003 and 2019.
Jones hurls headset in disgust
On form, ranked No.8 in the world, the Wallabies are next to no chance of troubling the trophy engravers in France.
But they have been handed a golden path to the quarter-finals by being placed in a soft pool with world No.9 Wales and No.10 Fiji along with minnows Georgia and Portugal.
Assuming they make it to the quarters, the Wallabies are likely to face a winnable match-up against world No.6 England or No.7 Argentina.
The big guns – Ireland, New Zealand, France and South Africa – are all on the other side of the draw.
“As silly as it sounds, and drinking the Kool-Aid, I think we’re a chance at the World Cup based on our pool. They need more time together. That’s as clear as day,” Hoiles said.
“It’s an unusual year to change your coach, a year out from the World Cup. That doesn’t make any sense. But you’ve done it, support it and just stick with it.
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“Don’t make any change in the next couple of years on that coaching side. I don’t think any coach, other than Eddie, has got the ability to have an eye on the next five years.
“He’s the guy that has the IP, the experience to be able to say ‘no, this needs a significant change.’ So that’s his challenge for next year to make sure there’s some type of change.
“You can’t expect a Wallabies team that have basically lost most of their games for the last two or three years in Super Rugby, to go out and just become winners. It’s a habit and they’re not getting those habits.”
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