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Appreciate most on here don't follow much rugby. To be fair I didn't until I moved abroad. The Wallaby performance at this world cup in France has been abysmal. Whilst there have been calls for Eddie Jones to step down (along with some foul mouthed rants from ex-players), I don't see this as being entirely EJ's fault. He inherited a team with problems from a guy who inherited a team with problems. To fix that in 7 games was optimistic, delusional and ultimately unachievable.
Yep EJ needs to stand by some of his decisions. not taking Hooper, Cooper and Foley is probably the biggest error people point to, but Hooper has had a series of mental health issues over the last couple of years that have forced him to step away, Cooper was hardly flavour of month with either of the last 2 managers and Foley, has a big mouth, but isn't really in the same class as number 10's across the world. Giving 3 kids the opportunity to be part of a WC Squad and play games in the best rugby competition in the world is an investment for the future. Connor Gordon hasn't set the world alight, but hopefully will be much better for the experience and his upside is far far far greater than either Foley or Cooper.
The poor showing against both Fiji and then Wales comes down to the same problems that have plagued the team for a while now.
Handling errors - the amount of fumbles and knock ons when in good attacking positions is heartbreaking. Like Jamarra missing from the top of square in some cases.
Poor On Field Tactical Decisions - consistently the team makes poor decisions. This was most evident when they elected to kick for the corner with the score at 10-6 rather than take the 3 points on offer and keep the scoreboard pressure on Wales. If you talk about a moment that and what followed was it.
Inability to execute set pieces - Poreci, the Hooker and captain completely cocked up the throw in missing the entire Australian line allowing the ball to be claimed by Wales who kick for territory. The game flipped at that point
Senior Players Making Mistakes and giving Away Penalties - how often do you see a team in rugby score 40 points, but run in only 3 tries. Wales scored 19 points from tires/conversions (3 x Tries & 2 x Conversions). Of the other 21, 18 were from penalties - that is poor and its not the young players making the mistakes.
Yes EJ should come in for criticism, but this is a burden the players need to stand up and take. It is a changing of the guard in Australian rugby and I have to say the sooner we see the backs of the current batch the better.
Yep EJ needs to stand by some of his decisions. not taking Hooper, Cooper and Foley is probably the biggest error people point to, but Hooper has had a series of mental health issues over the last couple of years that have forced him to step away, Cooper was hardly flavour of month with either of the last 2 managers and Foley, has a big mouth, but isn't really in the same class as number 10's across the world. Giving 3 kids the opportunity to be part of a WC Squad and play games in the best rugby competition in the world is an investment for the future. Connor Gordon hasn't set the world alight, but hopefully will be much better for the experience and his upside is far far far greater than either Foley or Cooper.
The poor showing against both Fiji and then Wales comes down to the same problems that have plagued the team for a while now.
Handling errors - the amount of fumbles and knock ons when in good attacking positions is heartbreaking. Like Jamarra missing from the top of square in some cases.
Poor On Field Tactical Decisions - consistently the team makes poor decisions. This was most evident when they elected to kick for the corner with the score at 10-6 rather than take the 3 points on offer and keep the scoreboard pressure on Wales. If you talk about a moment that and what followed was it.
Inability to execute set pieces - Poreci, the Hooker and captain completely cocked up the throw in missing the entire Australian line allowing the ball to be claimed by Wales who kick for territory. The game flipped at that point
Senior Players Making Mistakes and giving Away Penalties - how often do you see a team in rugby score 40 points, but run in only 3 tries. Wales scored 19 points from tires/conversions (3 x Tries & 2 x Conversions). Of the other 21, 18 were from penalties - that is poor and its not the young players making the mistakes.
Yes EJ should come in for criticism, but this is a burden the players need to stand up and take. It is a changing of the guard in Australian rugby and I have to say the sooner we see the backs of the current batch the better.
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