Eddie Jones’ verdict on ‘disappointed’ Wallaby Carter Gordon

With the Wallabies grouped behind their try line after conceding a decisive score against the Flying Fijians last month, young playmaker Carter Gordon made his way towards the sideline.

It was another frustrating night for Gordon in the Wallabies’ No. 10 jersey. The 22-year-old made a series of errors during the first half, and a brain fade after the break saw Fiji’s Josua Tuisova score.

Gordon was visibly frustrated and disappointed as he walked off the field at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. The Wallabies went on to lose to Fiji for the first time since 1954.

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Having been named ahead of veterans Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley as the sole flyhalf in the 33-man squad, Gordon’s fall from grace was painfully clear. With the Wallabies struggling under coach Eddie Jones, the team’s poor form appeared to hurt Gordon the most.

Gordon was ruled out of last weekend’s clash with Portugal due to a knee injury, and the Wallabies later confirmed that the pivot would play no further part in the sports showpiece event.

While the Wallabies are expected to bow out of the tournament at the pool stage for the first time ever, coach Jones described the World Cup as a “great experience” for young Gordon.

“He’s a young 10, he’s played a handful of Super Rugby games. He will be better for it. It was about getting some experience to be a good Test player,” Jones told reporters on Friday. “He had his ups and downs as young players do but he’s got a great opportunity now to go forward.

“It hasn’t gone as well as anyone hoped. He’s disappointed, but he’s learned a lot. He’s learned a lot about himself particularly.

“When you are a young player coming through, particularly when you have got that talented tag on you, there’s a realisation when you get to this level it’s about your hard work, it’s about the way you think. Not that he doesn’t have those qualities but he’s going to have to develop those qualities more to be successful and I’ve got no doubt he’s got that firmly entrenched in his mind.”

The Wallabies started their new era under coach Jones with a disappointing loss to South Africa in Pretoria, while losses to Argentina and back-to-back defeats to New Zealand followed.

Australia collected the wooden spoon at the end of The Rugby Championship and failed to win back the Bledisloe Cup as well. Losing to France in their final World Cup warm-up Test was another painful blow.

The Wallabies were 0-5 going into the World Cup, and while they finally brought an end to their losing run with a win over Georgia in Paris, that was as good as things got.

Losses to Fiji and a record World Cup defeat to Wales left the Wallabies on the brink of disaster, with the men in gold needing Portugal to beat the Flying Fijians by eight points or more this weekend.

Fixture

Rugby World Cup

Fiji

23 - 24

Full-time

Portugal

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“It’s hard to put in a sentence. We trained hard – every team trains hard for a World Cup – but we worked really hard,” Captain Will Skelton said. “We didn’t get the results that we wanted but as we’ve said, sometimes that scoreline is the last bit of the progress.

“Boys are changing their habits on and off the field. That’s a credit to Eddie and the staff and how hard they’ve been pushing us every day. You can’t really question the work effort we are putting in. We are just not really getting the results. But it will come.”