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‘I feel for these boys’: Sonny Bill Williams’ ‘honest’ view on Eddie Jones
Two-time Rugby World Cup winning All Black Sonny Bill Williams has taken aim at Wallabies coach Eddie Jones after Australia’s record defeat at the sports showpiece event on Sunday evening.
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The Wallabies’ quest for Rugby World Cup glory has almost certainly come to an abrupt end with the Aussies falling to a catastrophic 40-6 loss to Wales at OL Stadium.
Thousands of supporters draped in gold watched on as a young Wallabies outfit struggled to keep up with a Welsh team who, in all honesty, looked like they wanted it more.
Wales halfback Gareth Davies scored the opening try in just the second minute, and while the Wallabies managed to make it a one-point game shortly after, they were never really in the fight.
Warren Gatland’s men booked a place in the quarter-finals while the Wallabies will have to wait another four years for redemption after their biggest defeat in World Cup history.
“Let’s talk on tonight first and foremost,” Sonny-Bill Williams said on Australia’s Stan Sport post-game. “That second half team, they look like a team that just lost belief, they didn’t believe in themselves.
“They came out here, they didn’t perform at all, it was really, really disappointing.
“I feel for these boys, I feel for the fans. I want to keep it real on here, they were up against it from the start… questions need to be asked from selections to the mind games that Eddie’s been playing with these kids, these guys, these young men.
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“There’s a guy (former captain Michael Hooper) in the studio back home that should be here right now.
“The proofs in the pudding, 40-6 was really embarrassing and I feel for these kids – they’re gonna carry this on for the rest of their careers and feel this until they get to come back here again and rectify it.”
Williams, 38, also shared an “honest opinion” on Eddie Jones’ coaching drama following a report which suggests that he interviewed for another job before the World Cup.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Jones applied for the head coach role with Japan less than two weeks out from the Rugby World Cup.
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The Wallabies had lost all four tests under coach Jones before flying to France. Their record has since extended to just one win from eight starts following losses to France, Fiji and now Wales.
“From a players’ point of view I’m not following a guy that’s having a meeting with another national tame, potentially looking for another job days before you’re hopping on the plane to come to this World Cup,” Williams added.
“That’s just my opinion. I might be different, I might be going a bit too far here, but that’s my honest opinion.
“I’m just being honest, I feel for these boys because I know what it takes… the structure of the Australian Rugby Union needs to be looked at.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Seems to have been a bright start but it tailed off. To win the big matches you have to get used to putting your foot on the throttle and your opponent’s necks in an 80 minutes performance which is what the All Blacks were renowned for. An example in the Women’s game is England v Ireland in the 6N match played at Twickenham in April. Watch on YouTube.
1 Go to commentsBobby has been a first grade bonehead since high school. Like a true Cape Tonian, his own reflection is more important than anything else.
1 Go to commentsNo comment on the textbook red card for Ramm that was just ignored? Amazing that
4 Go to commentsThese rule changes have been implemented with good intentions, but much like every other rule change focus on isolated symptoms instead of the root cause. If you cannot croc roll, and cannot risk any head contact with a front on clear out, it is not clear how you are supposed to lawfully clear someone out who is attempting a jackal. This will backfire massively and lead to substantially more kicking. Teams will simply not want to take the ball into contact. Or it will lead to even more dangerous methods to clear players out who are over the ball. I much prefer having the set piece on a 30 second shot clock over no scrum on a short arm infringement. Resets are not a problem in themselves, but 90 second water and tactics breaks before every scrum are a big problem. Trainers constantly coming on to the field to help players pull their socks up and delaying the game are a problem. DuPont law was a blight on the game and should have been changed the day after it was first implemented.
77 Go to commentsAh yes, the opinion of Andy Goode… Andy Goode, the man who knows what some of the Irish players said to Eben Etzebeth after the QF, better than what Eben himself knows. And, judging by this piece, the Grandmaster of clichés.
2 Go to commentsI think this is a fair view. As a South African I am concerned about the depowering of the scrum but let’s be honest, until the SA vs FRA quarter many people didn’t even know you could take a scrum from a free kick. As you say it’s going to come down to interpretation… until then we don’t really know how this is going to impact the game. That would lead to my own objection. Do the unknowns of changing a law outweigh the cons of said law. With such an obscure law that most people had never heard of, one that had never really had an impact on the game in the first place is it worth changing to invite so much uncertainty. Better the devil you know then the devil you don’t as it were…
2 Go to comments162 comments so far and counting. i didn't realize that rugby fans are on the way to join the football brothers. what is the point to share personal opinion only to get all this shi*? it seems IRB bosses are doing the great job by killing the spirit of the game both on and outside the pitch. too sad, indeed. btw, was there anything on eben’s point of view from the boys in green, who he mentioned?
164 Go to commentsJob done guys. Great win in a game where things can quickly go wrong.
1 Go to commentsAlex Sanderson fantastic coach and person .So pleased he has signed another contract great days ahead for Sale under his leadership.
1 Go to commentsAndy Goode cant kick to 12
164 Go to commentsDoxed himself. Great work Johnny. You are well suited to the Saders
1 Go to comments_Best game players _
1 Go to commentsWho's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
77 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
12 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
12 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
35 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
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