Andrew Kellaway piles praise on Eddie Jones in wake of loss

Australia full-back Andrew Kellaway has praised Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones and his staff in terms of their response to a shattering Rugby World Cup defeat against Wales.

A record 40-6 loss in the fixture left Australia facing pool-stage elimination and making unwanted World Cup history.

The Wallabies’ fate will be sealed ahead of their final Pool C game against Portugal on Sunday if Fiji beat Georgia with a bonus-point 24 hours earlier.

Australia’s nine previous World Cup campaigns have seen them reach at least the last-eight each time.

“In terms of the loss, how did I deal with it? Probably not that well,” said Kellaway, in comments reported by www.rugby.com.au.

“Gutted, right? It is the pinnacle of our game and we weren’t able to perform and we let a lot of people down.

“We felt exactly how that would look from the outside, but Eddie has been great and the coaching staff fantastic, reminding us that we have another game to go here.

“A big pat on the back for them because they are probably hurting as much, if not more, than the rest of us. I can’t applaud them enough.”

Australia will again be without injured forwards Taniela Tupou (hamstring) and Will Skelton (calf) for the Portugal game in Saint-Etienne.

And whatever the Wallabies do in the Portugal encounter, Fiji only need five points from two matches – Georgia and then Portugal – to guarantee a quarter-final place alongside Wales.

Australia assistant coach Dan Palmer added: “We are obviously gutted with what happened on the weekend.

“This whole group – the playing group, the coaching group and the staff – have put a lot into it the last few months.

“We have refocused pretty quickly on what we need to do this week and are focused on putting a performance together against Portugal.

“We’ve still got a pulse in this competition, so getting up for this next game is not difficult.”