Tim Horan reveals what Wallabies players were saying in sheds after Wales loss
Rugby World Cups are brutal and this young Wallabies squad have learnt that the hard way in their second pool stage loss in France.
The 40-6 defeat at the hands of Wales is the largest the Australians have conceded in their illustrious World Cup history and comes off the back of another historic loss, having fallen to Fiji the week prior.
The criticism is loud and the consequences may be significant as Rugby Australia has announced there will be a review into the campaign with coach Eddie Jones’ job potentially on the chopping block.
With Wales and Fiji both owning superior winning rates in Pool C, the Wallabies face a first-ever pool-stage exit.
“We’re hurting,” Wallabies legend Tim Horan told Andy Ellis on The Front Row Daily Show. “The players are stinging, the fans who have saved up so much money over the last four years… You’re never guaranteed the side you’re supporting at the Rugby World Cup is going to go deep or go to the final but I feel for the players. They’re gutted.
“I walked into the dressing room, I haven’t been in the dressing room for probably 10-15 years, I just wanted to go in and just shake their hand, put a hand on their shoulder and just make sure they’re okay because I think it’s going to sting for a long time.
“We’ve been there, we’ve had big losses in Test matches or grand finals or whatever, and every time your head hits the pillow in the next four or five years, 20 years time, you’re going to be looking at the ceiling thinking about that loss.”
Memories of the losses recurring night after night pose a torturous outlook for Wallabies personnel, and the team will have to wait four years before they get the chance to make amends for the losses on rugby’s ultimate stage.
That chance will come in their own backyard, as Australia will host the 2027 Rugby World Cup. For now, the Wallabies must channel the disappointment into fire for their final pool match against Portugal.
Horan expanded on his time in the Wallabies dressing room after the match and revealed the players had just one thing to say.
“When the players walked past, they were just saying ‘we’re sorry’, because they know they’ve hurt, their feelings are hurt, as fans are. The supporters around the world, that come from London, that come from all over the world in a Wallaby gold jersey in support, they’re going to hurt for a very long period.
“And it’s good, you want them to sting because you want to remember that feeling.
“It’s not all about Eddie Jones either, Eddie is going to have to take some responsibility, so are the players. The players for the next week or so, they’ve got another game to play, how they respond, their values, their standards, it’s all going to come down to how the players respond.
“The hard thing now is how do we provide hope for the next two years going into a British and Irish Lions series? And then in four years’ time, hosting your own Rugby World Cup? How do we regroup with the help of our New Zealand neighbours to try and continue to grow the game in Australia? We’re at the lowest we can be now.”
The 80-Test Wallaby is no stranger to the highs and lows of Rugby World Cups, Horan recalled his experience bowing out earlier than anticipated and the pain that accompanied it.
“We obviously won the World Cup in 1991, put rugby on the map in Australia, ticker tape parades. But then, in 1995, we thought we’d do the same game plan and we’d win the World Cup but we get knocked out by England in that quarter-final in Cape Town.
“We had all these tickets planned for the semi-final and final, and the majority of the players – we flew out two days later – arrive in Perth with about 15,000 Aussies arriving in Perth going to Johannesburg.
“We had guys in the airline club hiding behind pot plants as all the fans were coming in through. Because players were embarrassed, and that’s what’s happened against Wales and it stings and that still hurts.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good Luck Sam, enjoy Japan.
1 Go to commentsWhen Sth Africa had Joost and Honiball at 9 and 10 they were almost impenetrable in and around the ruck. Even Jonah couldn't make headway in those channels so they were very hard to get in behind. They had a fantastic side who played a fast, rugged style which won them the Tri Nations during that period. That side would beat their current mob of which I have no doubt.
2 Go to commentsAwesome win by the NZ U20s. They were excellent in the 2nd half with some very patient and accurate phase play, a dominant scrum and decent lineout. Simpson controlled things very well at 10 and it was amazing to see the team maintain their composure and score points when he was in the sin bin for a very harsh yellow card.
2 Go to commentscome on Toulouse
1 Go to commentsNot unless the cartels get interested in rugby like they did w football
1 Go to commentsYes Dobbo, you were absolute crap. Start respecting the ball and possession. If you played rugby instead of basketball against the Ospreys, you would have been n the top two now, not fifth! If you attractively and entertainingly throw the ball around for 80 minutes and lose, WE DON’T FKN ENJOY IT!
1 Go to commentsWe need a system of transfer fees. A club shouldn’t just get to sign Will Harrison when he’s been funded in NSW his entire rugby life because they have more money.
89 Go to commentsThat the pain experienced by SH clubs poached mercilessly by NH friends being now felt by the non-elite NH clubs delivers me an element of schadenfreude but if it expands the amount of poachees and opens the eyes of those new to the group then it serves a purpose. In my pessimistic (realistic?) moments I see Oz clubs in the future acting solely as feeders for France and Japan. It’s a real possibility without change
89 Go to commentswhy is this garbage rival sport that’s poaching rugby talents being promoted on a rugby website backed by world rugby again?
5 Go to comments“Ou Lem” leading that ‘98 team to a 13-3 victory was the stuff of legend! Especially since we hadn’t beaten them for many years. 10/12/13 combo of Honiball, Pieter Muller & Andre Snyman were tough as nails! I remember screaming my head off in the early hours of the morning & my brother hitting a hole through one of the bedroom doors🤭😂
2 Go to commentsWhatever about 2017 - it's seven years ago and irrelevant now. In 2021 New Zealand needed a numerical advantage for 75% of the game and what was then the largest home advantage crowd in the history of the sport in order to just _barely_ beat England.
3 Go to commentsBoth cards were harsh. Yet again highlighting rugby's inconsistencies and the absurd effect of cards
3 Go to commentsExcellent game management in the last 15 or so minutes to close it out. Aussie got a bit panicky.
3 Go to commentsWhile all this is going on… I’ve been thinking more about the NFL draft system and how to make the commercial elements of the game more sustainable for SA teams who precariously live on the fringe of these developments. SA teams play in Europe now, and are welcome, because there’s a novelty to it. SA certainly doesn’t bring the bucks (like a Japan would to SR) but they bring eyes to it. But if they don’t perform (because they don’t have the money like the big clubs) - it’s easy come easy go… I think there is an element of strategic drafting going on in SA. Where the best players (assets) are sort of distributed amongst the major teams. It’s why we’re seeing Moodie at the Bulls for example and not at his homegrown Western Province. 20-30 years ago, it was all about playing for your province of birth. That has clearly changed in the modern era. Maybe Moodie couldn’t stay in the cape because at the time the Stormers were broke? Or had too many good players to fit him in? Kistchoff’s sabbatical to Ireland and back had financial benefits. Now they can afford him again (I would guess). What I am getting at is - I think SA Rugby needs to have a very strong strategy around how teams equitably share good youth players out of the youth structures. That is SA’s strong point - a good supply of good players out of our schools and varsities. It doesn’t need to be the spectacle we see out of the states, but a system where SA teams and SA rugby decide on where to draft youth, how to fund this and how to make it that it were possible for a team like the Cheetahs (for example) to end up with a team of young stars and win! This is the investment and thinking that needs to be happening at grassroots to sustain the monster meanwhile being created at the top.
89 Go to commentsGreat win - but very poor officiating yet again. Even the Aussie commentators slammed the YC decisions.
2 Go to commentsThe game where it felt like RSA was going to lose the most was the England game in my view. Heart in throat after the Farrell drop-goal…Amazing that the boks overcame 3 times in a row…not likely to be repeated ever in my view Also the boys looked emotionally spent in the England game in the 1st half That said, why was World Rugby and Beaumont allowed to stack the pools in England’s favour? Toughest opponents on that side of the draw were Fiji, Argentina (implode central) and Auckland Girls 2nd team
58 Go to commentsOnline trolls - the only ppl who the Crusaders can beat
2 Go to commentsDefinitely some greater nous by the Walleroos and it will take a bit of time for Jo Yapp to have a lasting affect. Canada are a forward dominated physical team and only the top 3 teams can match them, though not so sure about BF’s forwards. Many of Canada’s forwards earn their living in the English PWR, the breeding ground for the Red Roses amazing strength in depth. The next PAC4 matches will be interesting.
1 Go to commentsIs the Club World Cup and the World League, in combination, going to make or break world Rugby? I personally think it’s too much. Established tournaments and competitions’s significance is going to be drowned out by “the new shiney Mall built just down the street”.
89 Go to commentsLoved Carr‘s post match interview. “No, I don’t think so Jean. But thank you.” Good kid. Louw a certain feature for the Boks this year.
1 Go to comments