'Possession rugby is dead': Eddie Jones plots power game for the Wallabies
Eddie Jones has warned fans expecting the Wallabies to return to the glory days of the Galloping Greens-like running rugby under his coaching may be left disappointed.
Jones is a graduate of the famous Randwick side featuring the Ella brothers, Lloyd Walker and company that dominated Sydney club rugby in the 1970s and 80s.
But the master mentor on Friday claimed it was folly for fans to believe that throwing the ball around willy nilly in the modern era would succeed against European heavyweights Ireland and France and traditional southern hemisphere rivals South Africa and New Zealand.
Michael Cheika’s gallant outfit came within a win of stealing the Webb Ellis Cup in 2015 playing admirable ball-in-hand game, but Jones says he won’t be adopting any such style while chasing the 2023 World Cup in France.
He said the Wallabies must win at all costs, especially the first match of this year’s Bledisloe Cup series with New Zealand at the MCG in July.
“There’ll be a hundred thousand people there, right, and we kick the ball 70 times and we beat New Zealand, everybody is going to be happy,” Jones told an Australian schoolboys function in Sydney on Friday.
“(If) we kick the ball 10 times and we get beaten 40-10, they’re going to walk out kicking stones.
“So we’ve got to be junkies for winning, not junkies for possession. Possession rugby is dead. It’s dead for the moment and it’s probably going to be dead for a long period of time.
“The game’s about being fast now. You’ve got 75 per cent of tries being scored in three phases – 75 per cent.
“So why would you keep the ball for 10 phases.
“That’s just stupid to even think like that anymore, and unfortunately there’s that thinking still in rugby.”
Jones says the Wallabies must play to their strengths and pointed to the influx of Polynesian players in the code in Australia nowadays.
“You look to the playing population of Australian rugby now: 60 per cent is Pasifika, 40 per cent’s white,” he said.
“So that means the 60 per cent of Pasifika, we’ve got to play power rugby. Like, we can’t play a long-phase, hold-the-ball (rugby) with different sorts of gene pools.
“”We’ve got to play smart, we’ve got to play to what the laws are now and we’ve got to play to our strengths, which is about being smart, being really fast and aggressive on the first couple of phases and then be able to kick constructively to get the ball back.
“We don’t want to kick to them. We want to kick the ball back.”
Indicating that he will opt for Polynesian-packed backline, Jones believes Australian “can be more powerful than any other team” on the planet.
“You just have a look at the Australian backline that we could pick, we’ve probably got the most powerful backline in the world,” he said.
“So we’ve got to be able to use that. But we can’t use that by keeping the ball for 10 or 12 phases because they don’t have the petrol in the tank.
“You know when your car is going on empty, you’ve got put some petrol in it. So we’ve got to put petrol in our players.”
Despite only having five more months and five Tests to prepare for the global showpiece, Jones maintains Australia can win a third World Cup in October.
“You just look at the rankings,” he said.
“The top seven in the world, any of those seven can beat each other.”
Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
36 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
36 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
36 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
36 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
36 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
36 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
36 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
36 Go to comments