Presidencies are defined by their first 100 days in office. Or, at least, that’s what we’re told.
One hundred days out from the Wallabies’ World Cup opener against Georgia in Paris and much remains up in the air for the men in gold.
Yes, Eddie Jones has been in office as Wallabies coach for more than 100 days. 136, in fact. But it’s the next 100 days that could well define his legacy and indeed his tenure as Wallabies boss.
Here are the burning questions facing Jones’ Wallabies 100 days out from kick-off at the Stade de France.
Who will captain the Wallabies?
It’s the No.1 question. Why, you ask? Leadership. Some can inspire you, others can’t. Jones wants to unlock the potential inside the heads of the Wallabies that hasn’t been put out onto the park.
When Shane Warne used to have the ball in his hands, his teammates’ confidence grew. They always felt like they were in with a chance.
Is there a similar player in Australia? That’s what Jones has been on the hunt for since touching down in late January.
He’s got a leadership group of seven. The regular suspects are in it: Michael Hooper, James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Nic White.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones talks with players during his first Wallabies training camp at Sanctuary Cove on April 17, 2023 in Gold Coast. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
On the evidence of a photo on the Gold Coast: Andrew Kellaway and Jed Holloway are in there too.
What about the seventh? Perhaps Quade Cooper or even Samu Kerevi given neither were at Jones’ first Wallabies training camp in April but look central to his plans.
Another smoky is Ryan Lonergan, who is highly rated and has leadership experience.
Is Ryan Lonergan a bolter for captaincy? (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
It would be a big call given the 25-year-old has yet to make his Test debut, but Jones has never shied away from making a big call.
Interestingly, Jones has suggested he could turn away from tradition by naming multiple captains.
“I reckon we’ll need probably seven captains with HIA, so you can all write down your seven choices on a slip and send them through to me,” Jones joked with reporters earlier in the year.
“But I think we’re going to need to have a number of captains, in all seriousness. The way the game is at the moment. So I’m just working out… what will best suit the team, firstly for the Rugby Championship and then obviously as an entrée into the World Cup.”
More recently, he revealed his core leaders were working with psychologist Corinne Reid, who assisted Jones with England ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“Well, we’ve got seven guys working with our leadership psychologist Corinne Reid, since I’ve basically come to Australia,” Jones told The Weekend Australian.
“And out of that group of seven, there will be a someone, or a group of people designated to wear the captaincy badge. Yeah, but we need the leadership of the team to be collective. The rugby game now, more and more it’s a player-driven game. We have a game with little intervention from runners now.”
“We can’t get a runner on until the 20-minute mark. Generally speaking the players need to be able to work it out.
“So we are looking for a collective group, a group of five or six who can really run the team, make decisions quickly on the field and then at the top of the tree there needs to be one or two who can take and pull it all together.”
Will the Wallabies’ overseas eligibility policy change in this World Cup year and beyond?
Dave Rennie flagged it last November and despite being kicked down the road, it seems a certainty Jones will get an increase to the three overseas picks that his predecessor could select.
Ever since Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan casually interjected during Jones’ first press conference on home soil, saying “whatever he wants”, there’s been a feeling Jones will get his wish.
That expectation went up a notch earlier in the week when Jones said Australia simply couldn’t ignore the talent overseas.
“The Wallabies have a law called the Giteau Law where you could only have three players outside Australia with 30 caps,” Jones told the Evening Standard Rugby podcast.
“We haven’t tabled that with the board yet, but I’m sure we’re going to get a positive response on getting more players. Because we’ve got [Will] Skelton, who’s probably the best right-sided lock in the world, Richie Arnold at Toulouse, who’s a fantastic player in the Top 14.
“Quade Cooper, [Samu] Kerevi, [Marika] Koroibete – we can’t snub that sort of talent. I think Australians are always better when they are underdogs, when everyone thinks they haven’t got a sniff of it. They can come in under the radar.”
Will Skelton manhandles Antoine Dupont in France. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Jones is right. If the Wallabies want to go deep in the World Cup, an injection of talent from overseas will help their cause.
But the number will likely reduce in 2024 and beyond, with RA intent on bringing more players home with the carrot of a British and Irish Lions series in 2025 and a home World Cup in 2027.
For that to occur though, players’ salaries will have to go up.
Does Jones know his World Cup squad?
Unlike the Northern Hemisphere heavyweights, the Wallabies haven’t even played a Test yet in 2023.
It means what Jones thinks and knows promise to be two different things.
Could we see rare chances for Suliasi Vunivalu or Corey Toole? What about Tom Hooper and Izaia Perese?
Jones will want to build some momentum, but he will likely give a couple of chances to players to impress.
After all, on form, Vunivalu should be miles away from the Wallabies squad, but Jones could want to see how the two-time NRL premiership player responds under him.
It’s why his Rugby Championship and World Cup squad will likely be different.
Of course, the natural attrition of the game will see some hopes dashed. That, too, could change how Jones configures his squad.
When the dust settles, he will have to pick 33 for the World Cup.
It’s most likely 28 of those spots are likely settled barring injury, with the most open position being hooker.
David Porecki and Folau Fainga’a are two leading contenders for the Wallabies’ hooking position. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The other aspect is how Jones configures his squad, with character helping the selection case of some players.
“Having been to a few World Cups, what we try to do is pick the top XV and then we’ll pick the bottom five and the bottom five will be more about character, guys who want to train hard, are good round the team, have got a bit of life about them,” Jones told the Evening Standard Rugby podcast.
“You can’t have your third hooker or your third fly-half kicking stones, they are the ones who cause problems, so you need them to be good characters, positive characters.”
Will Eddie overhaul the Wallabies’ style of play?
Quite simply, Jones doesn’t have the time to.
The veteran coach often references his mentor Bob Dwyer’s saying that “if you can’t change a team in a week you shouldn’t be coaching.”
This is true to a point, but Jones will have less than a handful of full sessions before they take on the Springboks in Pretoria and barely a session before taking on Los Pumas in Sydney less than a week later. With travel, fatigue and jet lag an issue, it’ll mean Jones won’t be able to do much early.
Jones will tweak the Wallabies’ game plan and put the tools in place to allow that.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones believes possession rugby is dead. Photo: Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Since taking over, Jones has often spoke about possession rugby being dead in rugby. Why hold the ball relentlessly when the team that kicks the most wins?
When Jones won his first 17 Tests in charge of England, he didn’t reinvent the wheel. Nor will he for the Wallabies.
But he will dedicate time to trying to spark a light inside the Wallabies (more on that later).
Can the Wallabies win the World Cup?
Before you spit out your coffee, yes.
As Steve Hansen recently said, “If you are Australia or England at the moment, you are rubbing your hands, aren’t you? You are going to get an easy ride in if you do things right.”
Hansen’s right. The Wallabies do have the easier side of the draw to make the semi-finals, but from that point on, class will rise to the top. You don’t fluke it to the World Cup final.
The Wallabies should progress easily through to the quarter-finals, where a date with either Argentina, England or Japan likely awaits. All three opponents are very much beatable.
Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones says he’s looking to untap the missing 5-10 per cent needed for his home nation to succeed. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
As for a semi-final? Well, the Wallabies’ heartbreaking late defeats to France in Paris and Ireland in Dublin without many of their big guns last year shows they’re a chance. It’s as simple as that.
“If you look at world rugby at the moment, there’s six teams not separated by a cigarette paper. They’re so tight,” Jones said on January 31.
“And the team that learns the most over the next nine months will be the team that lifts the William Webb Ellis trophy in Stade de France on the 28th of October at about 11pm.
“And we’re intending that to be us.”
Whether they can take that chance remains to be seen. It’s why Jones believes the Wallabies can unlock more.
“For every team you coach, and since Australia in 2005 I’ve coached a few teams, you’ve got to just find the right spot for those players,” Jones said about his man-management style during his first press conference back on home soil.
“What’s the right spot to get them absolutely motivated because when we’re talking about motivation, everyone in this room at the moment thinks they’re concentrating at 100 per cent.
“And every player thinks they’re playing at 100 per cent. But what we know is that the human being has so much more in them.
“What we’re trying to find is that discretionary five to 10 per cent where the ball goes over your head and you make a decision on whether you run hard or you don’t run hard. That’s what we’re looking for.
“And so I don’t know how I’m going to have to coach the Wallabies. Whether I’m going to have to be harder, to be supportive or I’m going have to challenge or what mixture it is until I get the players.
“What I do know is that our players don’t lack talent. If you did a World XV today on talent you’d have a fair few Australian players in there.
“You’ve just got to look potentially at the backline Australia could have, potentially. And you’re thinking ‘yeah, is there a better backline in the world now?’
“But that doesn’t win you Test matches. What wins you Test matches is whether you run hard to do that inside clean, whether you go back over your head, to chase a kick. And so I need to find the right balance.”
Jones is right. The Wallabies do have talent. They just need to get them on the park fit and healthy. The next 100 days are crucial.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login