Eddie Jones returned to his roots on Tuesday for his first formal information convention since being reappointed Wallabies coach and issued a name for the entire of Australian rugby to “roll their sleeves up” and assist revitalise the sport.
In a message delivered on the college the place he was as soon as a pupil and instructor, Jones mentioned the group would do their half by successful the Rugby World Cup in France later this yr however couldn’t revive the game alone.
“I reckon we’ve got to draw a line in the sand and where we’ve been and work out where we want to go… then everyone needs to roll their sleeves up,” the 63-year-old informed reporters at Matraville Sports High School.
“We can’t do it by ourselves. We need everyone in the rugby community to find a bit more and they can. There’s plenty of people who love rugby when the Wallabies win, so we’re going to win, but we need them to maybe help start it.”
The Ella brothers – Mark, Glen and Gary – additionally attended the college with Jones and in describing the fashion of rugby he needed Australia to play, the previous England coach drew on the rugby revolution they helped set off within the Eighties.
“There’s plenty of talented players but talent doesn’t win World Cups,” Jones mentioned.
“What wins World Cups and wins hearts of people are teams that play with that same spirit the Ellas had, being aggressive and playing with a certain panache.
“We want to play tough. You want to win those tight games by one or two points, and that’s the traditional Australian digger spirit. We want that in the team.”
Winning tight video games, one thing the Wallabies misplaced the behavior of doing as they slid down the world rankings to quantity six over the previous couple of seasons, was key to claiming the World Cup for the third time.
“If you look at world rugby at the moment, there are six teams not separated by a cigarette paper. They’re so tight,” he added.
“And the team that learns the most over the next nine months will be the team that lifts the William Webb Ellis trophy at the Stade de France on the 28th of October at about 11 o’clock in the evening.”
Jones cited the transformation that Rassie Erasmus wrought on the Springboks in a short while forward of the final World Cup, which they received, however pressured once more he couldn’t do it alone.
“I think I made the point that I’m not the messiah, everyone’s in this together,” he mentioned.
“Sometimes you just need someone to beat the drum. And that gets everyone walking a bit faster. And maybe that’s the role at the moment. But as we go forward, it’s going to be about everyone working together.”
Jones mentioned he would have a chat with officers at Rugby Australia over the Giteau Law, which restricts the variety of gamers based mostly abroad that he can choose, at a later date.
In conventional Jones fashion, he aimed a sideswipe at former England coach Clive Woodward however in any other case was clear that he didn’t need to speak about his earlier job or his sudden exit from Twickenham final December.
“England’s a chapter which I enjoyed, loved it, but it’s closed,” he mentioned.
Reuters
