How Eddie Jones is helping rugby 'make a little bit more noise' in Australia
Super Rugby Pacific hasn’t started yet, and Test matches are still months away, but Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has already made a difference in Australia.
Rugby Australia stunned the world last month as they sensationally replaced Dave Rennie with Jones about eight months out from this year’s World Cup in France.
The decision received mixed reviews from rugby pundits and fans, but the decision certainly highlighted the Wallabies’ intent to shock the world.
But Jones, who coached the Wallabies to a World Cup final in 2003, returned home to a very different sporting landscape Down Under.
The popularity of the 15-player game isn’t what it used to be in Australia, but Jones is doing everything he can to change that.
Former Wallabies fullback Greg Martin praised the legendary coach for helping the sport “make a little bit more noise.”
“He’s now four weeks in and rugby hasn’t played a game yet, Super Rugby hasn’t started, and it’s still in the papers. He’s getting attention,” Jones told Martin Devlin on The Platform.
“Everyone wants to talk to him because he’s ‘Mr grab a quote from.’ You can always get a quote from Eddie.
“80 per cent of it might be his coaching but at least 20 per cent is his ability to market the game because journos gobble that up because he makes it easy for them.
“I don’t know if we’re any good on the field but we’ll certainly make a little bit more noise off the field and steal a bit of attention from the media.
“He’s still a good thing at this stage.”
The Wallabies are coming off a disastrous campaign last year, which saw them win just five Test matches.
While an incredible comeback win over Wales in Cardiff saw the men in gold finish their season on a high, the writing was seemingly already on the wall for Dave Rennie.
Rugby is a results driven business – that’s ultimately all that matters – but the injury crisis that swept through the Wallabies squad last year also can’t be ignored.
As Martin discussed, 53 players donned Wallaby gold last year.
But with the World Cup just around the corner, Jones’ appointment could breathe new life into the Test careers of some forgotten Wallaby stars.
“Eddie Jones is getting around, he’s going to watch all the trial matches,” he said.
“How many All Blacks players played in Test matches last year? We had 53 players get a Test for Australia last year.
“Eddie Jones is going, ‘Hold on, I’m going to pick and stick early.’
“(The players who have been) ignored are going, ‘Hold on, fresh start, we’ve got rid of that (Dave) Rennie bloke, now Eddie Jones might like me.’ That’s now, hopefully, what’s going to happen.
“That’s probably the most exciting thing, our Super Rugby teams are going to all be going mad from the word go to get the tick of approval from Eddie.”
Super Rugby Pacific gets underway on Friday with a New Zealand derby blockbuster between the champion Crusaders and Chiefs in Christchurch.
Later that night, Australian rugby kicks off with a crunch clash between rivals the NSW Waratahs and Brumbies.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments