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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.
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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.
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.
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“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.
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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.
“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.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
4 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
4 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
4 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
238 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to comments