EOIN TOOLAN BELIEVES Eddie Jones’ second reign as Wallabies boss has plunged Australian rugby union further into an existential crisis ahead of a pivotal four-year cycle for the sport Down Under.
Australia, who will host the Lions in 2025 and the World Cup two years later, are ostensibly out of this year’s competition having been beaten 40-6 by Warren Gatland’s Wales in their penultimate pool game.
Jones’ side face Portugal this Sunday in what will almost certainly be their final game at this year’s tournament, albeit the Wallabies will have to remain in France for the final week of the pool stage because, mathematically, they can still reach the quarter-finals.
“So, they’re going to have a week in France just sitting there, knowing that they’re out of the World Cup which makes it even more sickening,” said the Sydney-based Toolan, a former performance analyst with Ireland and with Super Rugby’s Melbourne Rebels.
Speaking on Wednesday’s Rugby Weekly Extra podcast, which is available exclusively to The 42 subscribers, Toolan outlined the calamitous nature of the Wallabies’ current campaign which culminated in the nadir of last Sunday’s 36-point defeat to Wales and left supporters feeling short-changed.
“Make no mistake about this: the appointment of Eddie Jones has been an unmitigated disaster,” Toolan told Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey. “To try and start your next World Cup cycle in your current World Cup cycle, how anyone thought that was a smart idea… it’s drawn so much backlash down this side of the world — particularly for families, for supporters. There are a lot of Aussies that have travelled over to the other side of the world that are going to be in France with no opportunity to see their country in the knockout stages.
“That’s by virtue of the head coach choosing to expose young, inexperienced players to the biggest stage in world rugby.
“Yes, potentially, Australia still don’t win a World Cup [with more senior players]: the win rate was about 35% in the Dave Rennie era. That wasn’t the solution. But I think it was irresponsible to just dump an inexperienced group in and expect them to be able to deal with the pressures of a World Cup.
“Let’s look at Carter Gordon: Jones doubled down on Gordon being the future of Australian rugby. Drops him two games in. What does that point to?
“It’s reactive, not a clear line of planning or thinking, or a cohesive outlook on what’s the best route forward for Australian rugby.
“Then, you throw in the Tom Decent article on Jones interviewing for the Japanese job [days before Australia's RWC campaign began]. There’s no way he’s publishing that article if he hasn’t gotten all his ducks in a row. That’s gotta be an accurate story. What does that tell the playing group?”
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Toolan said that the ramifications of Australia’s early exit from the World Cup are already being experienced off the pitch.
The concern, he explained, is that the country’s cash-strapped union will soon feel a pinch for their apparent short-sightedness in “handing the keys” to Jones only to see their slim tournament hopes steered off a cliff.
“Australia were looking to sell off 20% of Rugby Australia as private equity for somewhere in the region of AUS$200-250 million. Apparently that’s off the table, now,” said Toolan. “There’s no one interested in acquiring that percentage of Rugby Australia.
“Channel 9 and Stan are reportedly looking at pulling back on their broadcast deal with both the national team and Super Rugby.
“There are so many layers to this, and how impactful it’ll be on the game going forward, it actually doesn’t bear thinking about. They’re in such a tenuous situation now and it really is hard to see a quick fix for this.
“They need to act… I wouldn’t even say quickly, because whatever the next move is, it has to be a well-thought-out and coordinated plan that has longevity to it.
“Even if you look at the Dan McKellar situation: there are no guarantees in professional rugby but there was clearly a succession plan for McKellar to take over from Dave Rennie post-2023. Instead, they bring in Eddie Jones on a five-year contract and McKellar goes to Leicester.
“That pretty much sums up Australian rugby in terms of the succession planning, the development of coaches, the development of players. Everything is short-term-focused. That was the case with bringing in Eddie Jones.
They wanted that sugar hit, that immediate reaction where he could potentially pull something out of the bag and bring Australia to a World Cup final given how favourable the draw was. But it has ultimately backfired and they’re in a more tenuous situation now than they were in January.
“It’s a really daunting time for the code in what’s such a heavily populated and competitive sporting landscape in Australia.”
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