The Wallabies need to give Australia a reason to believe again
Make no mistake, the Wallabies’ upcoming World Cup showdown with Wales is worth much more than bragging rights and national pride. This is one of the most important tests in Australian rugby history.
Flyhalf Ben Donaldson and the other 22 players selected by coach Eddie Jones have a date with destiny on Sunday, and the success or failure of the evening will hang over the Wallabies for years.
Say what you will about England’s starchy form under coach Steve Borthwick, or the All Blacks’ fall from grace over the last couple of years, but no rugby giant has fallen harder than the Wallabies.
Australia are on the cusp of a once unfathomable pool stage exit. The Wallabies need to beat the Welsh in Lyon to avoid catastrophic disaster, and even then it might not be enough.
This Wallabies team is capable of something special, sure, but their form is a sight for sore eyes. If winning is a habit, then the Aussies are up against it.
When the full-time siren sounded at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne last weekend, many of the Wallabies dropped their heads in disappointment after losing to Fiji.
As for their opponents, Captain Waisea Nayacalevu fell to the ground in triumph and celebration as the Pacific Island nation kept its World Cup campaign alive with a historic victory.
With the world watching, the Flying Fijians had beaten Australia for the first time since 1954. The “wounded” Wallabies had fallen to a staggering sixth loss from seven Tests under coach Jones.
In the wake of the defeat, grey clouds filled the sky as thunder and lightning illuminated Saint-Etienne that night – but a ray of sunshine pierced through the clouds on Monday morning.
Both events were symbolic of the state of Australian rugby. That ray of sunshine, much like the upcoming clash with Wales, offers the Wallabies and their supporters a sense of hope.
“We’re alive. All you’ve got to be is alive, and if we beat Wales on Sunday we’re alive,” Jones told reporters in Lyon on Friday.
“We were always going to get this game at some stage. It’s come a little bit earlier than we thought it would, so we’ve got an opportunity to show on Sunday whether we can fight and get the result we need to get. I’m confident we can.”
Some Australian rugby fans will struggle to look through the grey and towards a brighter tomorrow, while others are filled with an all-too-familiar sense of unwavering optimism.
But either way, coach Jones and the Wallabies are “confident” that they can get the job done against the Welsh. It’s utterly essential that they do, too.
Australian rugby is at a crossroads. The stakes have never been so high.
Rugby Australia made the bold decision in January to replace former coach Dave Rennie with Eddie Jones. The Wallabies had won five of 14 tests under Rennie in 2022 and appeared to be in desperate need of change.
Rennie was axed and likely paid out on a big-money deal. As for Jones, who had been sacked by the RFU just one month earlier, the incoming coach inked a staggering five-year deal with Rugby Australia.
“Things would be different under Eddie,” many fans likely thought. This was widely considered to be a positive change. Australia had one of the greatest coaches of all time at the helm of a golden generation.
The headline-grabbing decision to lure Jones back to Australia was intriguing, and the legendary coach was quickly built up to be the messiah that the Wallabies so desperately needed.
But the Wallabies didn’t just stagnate, they’ve gotten worse – at least going off their win-loss record. Australia have lost 85 per cent of their tests under Jones this year, and that could increase on Sunday.
“(The) biggest thing I’m worried about this weekend as a Brisbane footy fan is that we are so distracted by the Broncos and Lions that one of the biggest fails in Australian sport is happening right under our noses and we’re missing it, or worse still, it’s happening and we don’t care,” Ben Davis said on SENQ693.
“Who has destroyed Australian rugby? Eddie Jones in his second coming was pronounced the messiah but all I’ve seen since then is a mess.
“For the first time since 1954, we have been beaten by Fiji. The Wallabies used to be our flagship footy team on the international stage… but not anymore. Who’s destroyed Australian rugby?
“I don’t think it’s Eddie Jones, he’s just inherited the mess. So, what’s happened along the way?
“When Eddie started, he was all fun and entertaining and was positive to start with, he was talking the talk but he’s not walking the walk, not now. They’re booing him in the land of baguettes but they’re also laughing at him across the channel in England.
“Maybe it was just an off night for the Wallabies. 18 penalties against Fiji – we handed them 15 free points. 15 points in a scoreline that read 22-15.
“Now we’ve got to play the world number seven team. They’re actually higher Wales than Fiji… we’ve got to play Wales to survive at the World Cup.
“The question begs: who destroyed Australian rugby?”
They’re strong words, fighting words even from Queensland-based sports reporter Ben Davis. Davis’s monologue paints both an irritating and saddening picture for the Wallabies.
Suggesting that coach Jones has simply “inherited the mess” would be a tough opinion for Wallabies fans to make peace with. Win, lose or draw, questions will be asked of coach Jones in the days, weeks and months after Australia’s World Cup campaign comes to a close.
But Davis suggests that Jones may be safe by diverting the blame, and that may leave supporters feeling stuck. If Eddie is to stick around, why should they believe that he can turn things around?
While the following statement may not fill fans with hope or assurance that they’re so desperately seeking, it’s the truth: Jones is safe. Any arguments suggesting otherwise are likely a moot point.
Dave Rennie struggled with Australia, and Jones has done the same. The Wallabies have shown nothing that suggests that another coach could instantly turn them into winners.
Also, who would they bring in? Rennie isn’t coming back, Les Kiss has signed with the Reds – only Stephen Larkham would make sense, but even then, it’d be a big step up for the former Wallaby.
Following the fall of Rennie, who again probably received a tasty payout, it would likely cost Rugby Australia too much to pay out Jones’ five-year deal as well.
With Sydney Roosters flyer Joseph Suaalii coming on a lucrative $1.6 million per year deal, RA just wouldn’t have the funds to pay all three so handsomely – especially if Suaalii was the only one actually contributing moving forward.
Jones has walked into every press conference this year with a smile on his face, but after the defeat to Fiji, that was the first time this journalist saw fear in his eyes. Reality came knocking, but Jones can have the last laugh against Wales.
From an Aussie point of view, it feels essential that Jones and the more than capable Wallabies give their loyal supporters something to believe in this weekend.
Otherwise, Australia supporters may feel lost with a coach who, at best, would finish the year with two wins from nine tests and a pool stage exit.
This would have a domino effect as NRL stars probably wouldn’t bother to jump codes, and the hype, passion and vibrance ahead of a massive six years would take a hit.
The British and Irish Lions are coming to town in two years, and then there’s the men’s and women’s World Cups on home soil in 2027 and 2029.
Australian sports fans love to support winners. It’s in their nature.
The sporting nation got behind the Matildas during the FIFA Women’s World Cup last month, and Queenslanders have rallied behind both the Broncos and Lions who are en route to the NRL and AFL Grand Finals.
When city, state or national pride is on the line, winning is all that matters. Losing to Wales is a burden that the Wallabies and Australian rugby can’t possibly prepare to bear.
The stakes have never been so high ahead of one of the Wallabies’ biggest tests in history.
Comments on RugbyPass
Guys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
105 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
105 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
105 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
105 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
105 Go to commentsHo hum.
105 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
105 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
105 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
105 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
105 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
105 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
105 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
105 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
105 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
13 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
105 Go to comments