Rugby Australia set sights on new coach as Eddie Jones walks
Rugby Australia set sights on new coach as Eddie Jones walks
Eddie Jones abruptly left the Wallabies ten months into his five-year contract, leaving Rugby Australia to scramble for a new national coach.
Less than two weeks after declaring he was “100%” dedicated to leading his young, revamped Wallabies to the Australia 2027 World Cup, Jones admitted on Sunday night to AAP that he was “not far away” from stepping down.
The 63-year-old politely consented to leave after the Wallabies’ disastrous World Cup campaign in France during a meeting with RA executives over the weekend.
For the first time, Australia was unable to advance past the quarterfinals of the world cup as a result of Jones’s last-minute decision to bench veteran playmaker Quade Cooper and longtime captain Michael Hooper in favor of a youth movement based on a roll of the dice.
The gamble was a huge failure.
The Wallabies failed to advance from the group stages for the first time in ten World Cup editions after losing to Wales 40–6 and to Fiji for the first time in 59 years.
The fallout is still ongoing now.
Jones’ disastrous second stint in charge ended with two lackluster victories over minnows Georgia and Portugal, and seven defeats from nine Test matches in 2023. RA is now left to pick up the pieces.
In his last 18 Test matches as Wallabies coach, Jones has led the team to 15 defeats, continuing from his previous tenure.
RA now needs to find a replacement for Dave Rennie, who was fired, despite his controversial initial appointment.
The primary targets for RA’s Australia are anticipated to be former Wallabies assistant Dan McKellar and the legendary World Cup winner Stephen Larkham.
Although RA manager Hamish McLennan fired dependable Kiwi coach Dave Rennie and signed Jones with a virtual captain’s pick, the next appointment will undoubtedly be made through a more stringent procedure.
Former Australia forwards coach McKellar resigned from his position with the Bronx to focus on the Wallabies after being widely praised as Rennie’s man-in-waiting.
However, he left shortly after the divisive Jones assumed power.
The 47-year-old has long coveted the top Australian position, but it might not have the same allure as it once did. He is currently the head coach of Leicester Tigers in the UK.
RA may choose to hire current ACT Brumbies coach Larkham since they would prefer an Australian coach.
Up until an ugly breakup in 2019, Larkham served as the attack coach for the then-Wallabies coach Michael Cheika during the 2015 World Cup. Cheika was held accountable for Australia’s string of disappointing performances.
After coaching Munster, an Irish provincial team, for three years, the champion five-eighth was back with the Brumbies for the 2023 Super season.
After leading Australia to the 2015 World Cup final and Argentina to the World Cup semi-finals this year, Cheika has also been linked to a second stint with the Wallabies.
After the Pumas fell to England 26–23 in the third-place playoff match, Cheika said he was unsure if he would stay on as Argentina’s coach. I haven’t given it a second thought. Later this year, I’ll visit Argentina, and we’ll talk about how things went and what’s ahead,” he stated.
RA could take a risk by betting on NSW coach Darren Coleman, who during his two years in the position assisted in transforming the Waratahs from wooden spooners to Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinalists.