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'Players who can grow': Eddie Jones explains 'interesting' Wallabies selections

By Finn Morton
Eddie Jones at the Super Rugby Pacific launch event. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones made international rugby headlines earlier this month as he named his first national squad ahead  of a training camp on the Gold Coast.

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Jones named a star-studded squad which boasts an exciting mix of experience and youth, but there were also plenty of surprises – including a few shocking omissions.

For quite some time now, Brumbies playmaker Noah Lolesio has been touted as one of the Wallabies’ best options at first-five.

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But a slow start to this year’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign has cost the 23-year-old, who missed out on selection along with Reds stars Tate McDermott and Harry Wilson.

After naming his first Wallabies squad since returning to Australia, Jones explained some of his big selection decisions on his podcast Eddie.

“We’ve tried to look at the squad and what we want to build for the World Cup, we needed to pick players who could win for Australia,” Jones said.

“That means that they’re rolling their sleeves up and digging in for their clubs in Super Rugby level. It’s a mixture of players who have got great experience and some players who have never played Test rugby.

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“The interesting thing will be how they come in… particularly for the young guys, whether they can adjust to the quicker changes in the turnover, adapting to the quicker style of learning.”

Jones included six uncapped players in his squad for the training camp, including in-form Rebels playmaker Carter Gordon.

Gordon has been a revelation for both the Rebels and Australian Rugby this season, and certainly appears to have an exciting future with the Wallabies ahead of him.

Teenager Max Jorgensen was also selected, along with Josh Flook, Brad Wilkin and Ryan Lonergan.

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Prop Blake Schoupp was a surprise selection in the 33-man squad, but Jones seemed more than happy to have the Brumbies front-rower in his squad – saying Schoupp was “build like a brick s***house.”

While some of these selections may have surprised some rugby fans, Jones added that the Wallabies aren’t looking to pick “the commentators choice” ahead of the World Cup.

“There was a great study done in England about five years ago when I was over there about all their most successful British athletes,” he added on Eddie.

“If you look at the way Great Britain have done at the Olympics, in the last eight to 12 years, their success rate has been extraordinarily good.

“Most of the successful Olympic athletes had some sort of trauma or struggle in tehri life, whether it be a family situation, an injury, an illness, non-selection, that then made them a little bit more focused.

“Therefore they became successful, and I don’t think it’s any different in rugby.

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“I’ll look at a player trying to find out about their background and if there’s enough good things that indicates that they’ve got growth in them.

“We’re looking for players who can grow mate, not looking for players who are the finished product.

“We’re not looking for the commentators choice, the player that makes the big run and has a rest, but does that really well and captures the attention of the commentators.”

Noah Lolesio, Tate McDermott and Harry Wilson all impressed during the Reds’ crunch clash with the Brumbies on Friday night.

After missing out on the Wallabies, these three players all sent a message to selectors.

“These guys get the opportunity, they get to put their engines in front of the engineers at the first camp.

“The guys have got 10 rounds but they’ve got to do something different, they can’t keep doing the same thing.

“They haven’t been picked because they haven’t rolled their sleeves up enough, haven’t played with enough toughness and fight and worked hard enough off the ball.

“We don’t coach skill at international level, we try to pick skilful players with toughness, and they’re the best players. But if you’ve only got one of them, you’ve only got the big play, then you’re not going to be successful at Test rugby.”

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Adrian 48 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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