Eddie Jones cops savage England truth bomb over Wallabies 'disaster'
Eddie Jones has been given a brutal reality check in his second coming as Wallabies coach.
The English media has taken great delight in Eddie Jones's disastrous start to his second stint as Australian rugby coach, with one publication describing the Wallabies "as a mob of mewling pussycats" following their heavy defeat to South Africa. The UK Guardian headlined its match report: 'Outplayed everywhere': Eddie Jones exposed by woeful Wallabies.
The Independent went with: South Africa demolish Australia to hand Eddie Jones unhappy start in Rugby Championship. The Guardian's report stated: "Not only were Jones's players ruthlessly exposed, so were he and his coaching staff.
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"That this defeat came against a second-string Springboks side, with the first XV dispatched to New Zealand to counter the All Blacks, only salted the wound. "Australia’s discipline was as awful as it was last season, gifting 11 penalties to three, including two yellow cards that resulted in penalty tries.
"The defence, under ex-NRL star Brett Hodgson, lacked line-speed and intensity, as Australia lost every collision. The attack – a key cog in Jones’s desire to return to ‘the Wallaby Way’ of hard, fast, feral front-foot rugby – was nigh non-existent with 24 gain-line carries to South Africa’s 70. Most of Jones’s selection gambles backfired."
Eddie Jones clashes with reporter after sorry 15-year first
The 43-12 defeat in Pretoria was the Wallabies' heaviest loss to the Springboks in 15 years and a savage blow to the promised revival of Australian rugby in Jones's second coming. Jones and the UK press pack endured plenty of argy-bargy during his eight-year stint as England's national coach and it's clear much of the animosity remains.
Most of the coverage here in Britain focused on Jones's clash with a reporter shortly after the Pretoria blow out. Jones labelled the journalist a "smart arse" for asking the Wallabies coach if it was a "relief" the visitors hadn’t faced a full-strength South Africa.
Others focused on the fact Jones had talked the talk since returning as Australia coach but not walked the walk when it mattered most. "He told media he had coached his men to play like “mongrel dogs”. He delivered a mob of mewling pussycats," the Guardian's report continued.
"He promised fans this week was the first step toward a 'smash and grab' on rugby’s greatest prize. Instead, 62-days out from the World Cup, a season that promised so much has kicked off with disaster."
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