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Rugby Australia boss apologises for the state of the Wallabies
Feeling the despair of fans, Phil Waugh has apologised for the Wallabies’ dismal 2023 campaign while promising to drag Australia’s ailing football code out of the doldrums.
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Rugby Australia’s CEO since only June, Waugh concedes the Wallabies’ failure to progress out of the group stages for the first time in World Cup history is unacceptable for all stakeholders in the game.
“The performances of the Wallabies – and that’s our shopfront window – haven’t been good enough,” he said after confirming Eddie Jones’s shambolic 10-month reign was over.
“So for all supporters, we feel the pain. We feel that responsibility, we feel like we’ve let them down.
“I apologise and I’ve done that a number of times, just around the performance because it has been bitterly disappointing.
“Now we need to move forward, with the same direction, the same vision and the same passion.
“We’ve got a lot of ground to make up, with building trust with our stakeholders, with the community.”
And moving forward doesn’t mean rushing into appointing Jones’s replacement.
“Look, it’s all very raw. I think everyone’s a candidate,” Waugh said after the likes of outgoing All Blacks coach Ian Foster, ex-Wallabies boss Michael Cheika and former Australian assistants Stephen Larkham and Dan McKellar’s names were thrown up.
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“We’re open to getting the best coach for our system and our team in terms of high quality.
“We want to make sure that we get the right panel together. Once we get that panel together, then run a process. Our next Test is not till July next year.
“So we have time.”
While acknowledging RA remains in a challenging financial position, which is why Jones opted to jump ship, Waugh said hosting the British and Irish Lions in 2025, the men’s World Cup in 2027 and the women’s global showpiece in 2029 would leave the governing body strong again.
“There are a lot of good things occurring,” said the retired great.
“We won the World Cup hosting rights for ’27 and ’29, the Wallaroos beat France, a top-three team, for the first time ever on Saturday night, the sevens teams continue to succeed.
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“There’s a lot of great activity in the community games. So rugby is healthy.
“(But) we need to be winning between World Cups and not rely purely on World Cup success.”
Despite the Wallabies slumping to an all-time low of No.10 in the rankings after beating only minnows Georgia and Portugal in a woeful two-from-nine Test record under Jones this year, Waugh is confident a turnaround is imminent.
“We saw the performance in Dunedin against the All Blacks for 65 minutes where we were in front,” he said of Australia’s 23-20 loss to New Zealand three weeks before the World Cup.
“The All Blacks pushed the Springboks and potentially could have won the World Cup final.
“So my view on all these aspects is you’re never as far away as you feel like you might be and you’re never as far ahead as you feel like you might be when you’re winning.
“So in terms of having no direction, I’d strongly dispute that because I do think we’ve got a very strong direction, a very strong vision.”
It is unclear if Jones will receive any pay-out.
“We’ve got a deed of release with Eddie and the reason why we have taken some time to get to our announcement out is because we were working through that deed of release,” Waugh said.
“I think I’ve been fairly transparent around the fact that Rugby Australia has ended up in a very good situation financially through the separation.”
Comments on RugbyPass
If I’m a little bloke, who’s just had possession of the ball, I should expect to get cleaned up by Samipeni Finau if he’s opposite me and I do nothing to avoid him. FTFY You’ll need to rewrite the rest of your article now Hamish Bidwell. I’m not sorry for having missed reading this one. I find it hilarious it’s only the static aussie 10s, just waiting there, that are getting smashed. Move on your feet guys, haven’t you watched DMac and Mounga play for the last decade ffs. Chin up, at least your smiles should return when BB returns to SR next year and there’s more 10s to the fodder.
6 Go to commentsFinau is not leaving a lot of room for error that’s true, but he committed to 3 out of four tackles when the player had the ball so that’s all legal. (And incredibly entertaining)
6 Go to commentsHow does the size of the ‘bloke being hit’ factor into this? If you’re on the opposing team you are fair game. Is Finau the first person in history to target the first five? It seems like this is a great strategy to interrupt your opponents attack. As far as I’m aware, of the four excellent hits on Aussie first fives this year only one of them was ruled late. So if crying about legal tackles isn’t whingeing, then what is it?
6 Go to commentsThings I want to pay attention to this series. 1) Nothing against the other teams in 6 nations, but apart from Irelands loss to england, I dont feel they got tested, So I think this might be tight. 2) Rassie wants to build depth, and would rather do it before a world cup, but I am sure deep inside, he will be reminded that we have not beaten Ireland in years. 3) Will our new coaches plans be sound abd organised in time for the Ireland series? Remember our warm ups might only see our second or third string players available (When are we going to have one universal calander year?) 4) I see Ireland have moved on from Sexton, but what will Farrels plans be for SA? I am sure he will go for a full strength squad. 5) I think the test for the springboks will be the Durban game, it will be in winter, so not too hot for the Irish,no altitude, and it rains allot, might remind them of home. Loftus, if the springboks play the right game, I feel altitude like with most games before, can cause some challanges. 6) Off topic, but who is both Anxious and excited about what the Abs are coming with? A whole new coaching team and different style of play.
115 Go to commentsMost underrated player in world rugby.
2 Go to commentsHow many fans will travel to Qatar to watch these games ? because if they dont, it will be played in front of a few disinterested unknowledgeable Qataris and then just becomes media ‘content’. Thats what Test rugby will be reduced to.
1 Go to commentsSo as long as the playmaker still has the ball IN his hands, its OK. Otherwise the timing is wrong and he’s a liability. No grey line there. Thats the rule he is advocating ? Got it.
6 Go to commentsWrite them off at your peril
8 Go to commentsJust fantastic that the professional game is finally being taken to the Pacific islands. Not before time. It justifies the mere existence of Moana as a club, hopefully they can start to get some positive results too. Check out the sheer joy of the crowds in Fiji and the buzz that having a home team creates. Tonga always had (has ?) issues with their ground not complying with International rugby standards, which NZ always used as an excuse for many years not bringing the All Blacks over. Hopefully this match is the first of many. Would be great to see some tourism grow on the back of it. I once went to the Cook Islands Sevens in Rarotonga - tiny island nation but man did they turn it on. Tonga and Samoa will too given half a chance.
1 Go to commentsQuite right. Punish the time wasters. Its BS these time delays for non-injuries. The Boks have been using it for years now to slow down opposition and now its a scourge on the game. Put players like DeGroot on the sideline and restart play immediately. Watch how 5-6 min to fix your boots quickly becomes 1-2 minutes. Better still how about some personal professional management and you check the conditions/turf beforehand and get yourself better prepared. It might even help your team.
1 Go to commentsWhat drivel. Rugby as a contact sport should not be further diminished by crying over legal hard tackles. Take on the line? Be ready to take the hit. This is PC nonsense.
6 Go to commentsGregor Paul is going to be proved totally wrong. The Crusaders will get in the top 8 and are capable of winning this comp. The return of magnificent captain and player Scott Barrett on Friday was huge. There are a number of players returning and Ethan Blackadder showed huge progression in only his third game back. Christian Lio-Willie has added a new dimension , these two’s combination with Cullen Grace was fantastic. This builds depth when you have outstanding players like Tom Christie and Dom Gardiner also available. The tight five improved ten fold and this is with Tamaiti Williams and Codie Taylor being back.Others are set to return. Johnny McNicoll on his return home has been a revelation. Paul can dismiss Fridays win by the Crusaders as much as he likes and he will prove very popular in this country in doing so. But he will be proved wrong , Rob Penney and his coaching team will have the last laugh.
8 Go to commentsI haven’t seen or heard to many whinging about Finau quite the opposite. The TMO’s have reviewed each time and taken no action, so if they have now been alerted it’s not from people whinging The player comes flying out of the line and launches himself at the attacker so it is probably ruled as a committed tackle, but at what point does it move to tackling a player without the ball Time will tell
6 Go to commentsThis cracked media record of aligning success or failure on head coaches is remarkable. Using the crusaders past history as an example, a more sensible observation and analysis could be that the recent head coaches had inherited a extremely successful combination of players linked to their traditional historical support of the Canterbury people. That period ended this year when the new coach was introduced to virtually a new team. And in a year where other franchises have grown much stronger than their respective past, it was always an anticipated reality that the coach and his new crusader team were up against it. Therefore, I humbly believe that unlike some commentators present, I laud coach Penny and the team for their efforts to date and I am sure given another term and with Canterbury behind them they will be riding high once more. Strange all this coming from me who lives in Taupo and a one eyed chiefs supporter. Can't wait for all future chiefs and crusader games!
8 Go to commentsGrt bench player..keep him there..
3 Go to commentsA Springbok 2-0 win: haha told you we were champions now shut up An Irish 2-0 win: the referee was under orders from world rugby to cheat us but luckily we don’t care because this is part of Rassie’s grand world Cup plan.
115 Go to commentsI hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
8 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
8 Go to comments